Hyundai founder’s grandson got suspended jail term for drug use
This is the fifth of a series, which highlights Korea’s wealthy businesspeople who caused troubles related to drugs, alcohol, and power harassment called “gap-jil” here. _ ED.
Chung Ju-yung, a son of a poor farmer, established Hyundai Group in the 1940s to make it one of the largest business conglomerates in South Korea. Hyundai was a dominant player in the 1990s.
The late entrepreneur had a total of eight sons, including Hyundai Motor Group chief Chung Mong-koo, and Hyundai Heavy Industries’ largest shareholder Chung Mong-joon.
The former is the country’s primary automaker while the latter is the world’s foremost shipbuilder.
The Hyundai founder’s youngest son is Chung Mong-il, chairman of Hyundai M Partners. He hardly made headlines as the company is relatively small compared to Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
But Chung Mong-il’s name was reported early last year not because of his enterprise but because of his son, a 20 something who was caught smoking marijuana.
His name is Chung Hyun-sun, who worked as vice president for Hyundai Venture Investment, an affiliate of Hyundai M Partners.
In May 2019, Chung Hyun-sun was booked and detained on charges of smoking liquid marijuana 26 times. He was released after a district court handed down a suspended jail term in September 2019. In early 2020, a high court upheld the ruling.
Of note is his younger sister, named Chung Moon-yi, was reportedly fined for consuming marijuana, which is prohibited in South Korea, in 2012.
