Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and No So-young, head of the Art Center Nabi, have reportedly prepared for their son Choi In-kun (30) to take a leave of absence from SK Innovation E&S (SK E&S) and start a startup. With In-kun's leave, only the eldest daughter, Choi Yoon-jung, remains among the three children of Chey and No working for SK Group.
The youngest child, In-kun, who is the son among Chey and No's three children, graduated from Brown University in the United States, completed an internship at Boston Consulting, and joined SK E&S in 2020. Born in 1995, he worked in the strategy planning team at the Seoul headquarters before serving at the North American corporation and investment subsidiary Passkey from the end of 2022 until recently.
After taking a leave, In-kun is preparing to start a startup while commuting between the United States and Korea, similar to his younger sister Choi Min-jung. Min-jung, a former naval officer, worked for about a year at SK hynix Intra (an organization dealing with international trade and policy response) in Washington, D.C., before taking a leave and founding an artificial intelligence (AI) medical startup.
There are claims that No's influence has significantly affected In-kun's decision to take a leave. It is reported that In-kun and his two siblings were particularly concerned about No during the divorce proceedings between Chey and No. The children frequently spent time with No both domestically and internationally, and since the eldest daughter, Choi Yoon-jung, and the younger daughter, Min-jung, have started families, In-kun has maintained the most contact.
No has been attentive to In-kun since he was young. In-kun has previously been diagnosed with pediatric diabetes. No spent more than two years in Hawaii when In-kun was attending high school there.
While nothing has been concretely established yet, there is also interest in how the group succession structure will unfold. In-kun is known to have a close relationship with Chey and maintains frequent communication with him. They have been spotted playing tennis together or dining out in downtown Seoul. During the 50th anniversary event of the Korea Higher Education Foundation last November, In-kun sat next to Chey along with Yoon-jung, drawing attention.
Passkey, where In-kun worked, has been playing a role in discovering promising corporations in the energy solutions sector in the North American market, but there have been no notable achievements thus far. As SK Innovation and SK E&S undergo integration, the U.S. corporation is also accelerating its restructuring. Key executives such as Choi Jae-won, vice chairman of SK Group, and Yoo Jeong-jun, vice chairman of SK On, are named as key officials, indicating that it will continue to be used as a hub overseeing the North American energy business.