Gil Sung-jin, son of Korea’s veteran TV personality Gil Yong-woo, officially joined the family of one of South Korea’s top business tycoons Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, on Oct. 11. He married Chung’s 29-year-old granddaughter Sun A-young at Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul under the media’s spotlight.

A marriage in the chaebol family has always been a subject of interest for the public, partly for the glamour and more so for the anticipated development in the succession of managerial power.

Chung Mong-koo has one son Chung Eui-sun, the vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Company, who is married to Chung Ji-sun, the eldest daughter of Sampyo Group Chairman Chung Do-won. Chairman Chung also has three daughters.

Here is a look at the family tree of Chung’s sons-in-law in particular.


Sun’s mother is Chung’s eldest daughter Chung Sung-yi, an executive of Innocean.

Chung Sung-yi’s husband is Sun Doo-hoon, chief director of Daejeong Sun Hospital set up by his late father Sun Ho-young.

Since their marriage in 1985, she has not taken up any business role until she was named as chief director of Haevich Hotel & Resort in 2003.

Chung Sung-yi is Innocean’s largest shareholder with 27.99 percent. Innocean is Hyundai Motors’ advertisement affiliate specializing in Hyundai Motors’ vehicle commercials. It debuted on Kospi in July last year.

According to The Superrich Team’s analysis, Chung Sung-yi is the country’s 74th wealthiest businessperson, owning a total of 363.9 billion won ($314.3 million) in stocks. Her husband Sun Doo-hoon debuted his artificial joint manufacturer Corentec on the tech-heavy Kosdaq.

Sun’s 7.66 percent of Corentec shares are estimated at 11.3 billion won as of Oct. 4. Doo-hoon’s children A-young and Dong-wook own a 0.11 percent in Corentec respectively.

In April, their son Dong-wook tied a knot with Chae Soo-yeon, second daughter of Aekyung Group Vice Chairman Chae Hyung-seok.

The latest married couple Gil Sung-jin and Sun A-young were friends before being romantically involved.

Gil has a business diploma from Georgetown University and worked for Hyundai Motors for a while. He is now known to run a craft beer house called “Namsan Chemistry” in Itaewon, Seoul.

His father Gil Yong-woo owns the building where “Namsan Chemistry” is located. Including the building, Gil owns 30 billion won worth real estate assets.

According to industry sources, the senior Gil purchased the two-floor building in October 2014 under the joint names of his wife and son. The building sits on a 413 square meter land. Out of the 6.22 billion won used to purchase the building, 4 billion won was a loan.

He also owns another three-floor building, sitting on 1730 square meters in southern Seoul. The building is close to Sadang subway station. It has a supermarket chain and franchised restaurant inside. The building is estimated at 28 billion won.

Chung Myung-yi, an executive of Hyundai Commercial and second daughter of Chung Mong-koo, is married to Chung Tae-young, vice chairman of Hyundai Card.

Chung Tae-young is the eldest son of Chung Kyung-jin, founder of Korea’s oldest cramming school, Jongno Academy. His younger brother is a former CEO of Irunet, Chung Hae-seung.

Chung Tae-young earned a diploma in French from Seoul National University and completed his MBA at MIT. Starting his career at Hyundai Trading in 1987, Chung was relocated to Hyundai Mobis and Kia Motors. He took the helm of Hyundai Card in 2003 as vice chairman and has led the finance sector of Hyundai Motor Group since then.

In 2005, Chung inherited 57 percent of shares in Jongno Academy. It was later acquired by Haneul Education.

Chung Tae-young and Chung Myung-yi have two daughters and one son, named Yoo-mi, Yoo-jin and Joon. Their second daughter Yoo-jin began working for Hyundai Card in September last year.

Chung Mong-koo’s third daughter Yoon-yi, an executive director of Haevich Hotel & Resort divorced Samwoo Vice Chairman Shin Sung-jae in March, 2014. Along with the divorce, Shin left Hyundai Hysco which he had been running for ten years. 

By The Superrich Team (jiwon.song@heraldcorp.com)

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Hong Seung-wan

Kim Yoon-mi

Yoon Hyun-jong

Min Sang-seek

Lee Se-jin

Song Ji-won