SK Group is keeping a low profile for its 60th anniversary celebrations as its owner Chey Tae-won is currently awaiting a appellate court appearance on Monday.

The country’s third-largest conglomerate is planning to hold a small, quiet ceremony at its SK Academy in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday, ahead of Chey’s trial scheduled for 2 p.m. on the same day.

The ceremony will be attended by Kim Chang-geun, chairman of SK’s top decision-making body SUPEX Council, SK Innovation vice chairman Koo Ja-young, SK Telecom chief executive Ha Sung-min, SKC chairman Chey Shin-won and SK Holdings vice chairman Chey Jae-won.

SK is currently undergoing difficulties as its owner Chey Tae-won, who stepped down from the top position at SK Group, is in jail after receiving a four-year sentence for embezzling corporate funds for stock investment.

“The past 60 years had a focus on lives of people such as in basic clothing and energy that achieved the Han River miracle and created in the industrial era,” said Kim.

“In the informatization period, we led the technology-driven industry. Now, our emphasis is on happiness and globalization.”

SK made its debut in the 1950s as a textile firm, but evolved into a corporation that covers energy as well as IT over the years.

Founded by former chief executive Chey Jong-kun, it was the first in Korea to export rayon textiles to Hong Kong in 1962.

Since stepping into the petrochemical sector about a decade later, the corporation was taken over by the founder’s younger brother Chey Jong-hyun.

With the younger Chey taking full charge of Sunkyung, it began more aggressively expanding its business portfolio from textile and petrochemical to construction, timber, metal, mechanics and tourism.

And it was the takeover of the Korea Oil Corporation in November 1980 that made it possible for the firm to leap close to its position today.

SK also got its hands on the telecommunications business by purchasing shares of what is currently SK Telecom in 1994.

Then Chey Tae-won, the eldest son of Chey Jong-hyun, took the helm of what is known today as SK Group, following the death of his father in 1998.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)