Hyosung sibling feud continues despite late honorary chairman's will

Former Hyosung Vice President Cho Hyun-moon leaves the funeral altar for the late Hyosung Group Honorary Chairman Cho Suck-rai at Severance Hospital in Seoul in this March 30 file photo. Yonhap

The authenticity of the testament of the late Hyosung Group Honorary Chairman Cho Suck-rai, disclosed abruptly on Wednesday, was questioned a day later by his second-oldest son. The group's honorary chairman, who died in March, reportedly asked his sons to end their decade-long feud.

In a statement from his attorney, former Hyosung Vice President Cho Hyun-moon said that it is difficult for him to accept the testament at this moment, as it remains uncertain about how the document was written and disclosed.

“I need a significant amount of time to review the testament,” he said. “It is difficult for me to clarify my stance at this moment.”

He issued the statement a day after local news outlets reported on Wednesday that his father had written the testament last year with a major law firm’s lawyer.

The late honorary chairman is said to have wanted to give his second-oldest son a portion of his properties, including his shares in Hyosung Group affiliates, although the son disowned the father 10 years ago after losing to his older brother in a competition for the group’s control.

The size of the inheritance to the second-oldest son is reportedly bigger than the legal reserve of inheritance, which is equivalent to 11.1 percent of the deceased’s wealth in this case. Legal reserve of inheritance refers to a minimum portion of inheritance that bereaved family members can ask for, if they are excluded from a testator's will.

However, the size is still not enough for the second-oldest son to threaten the management rights held by his older brother, Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, and his younger brother, Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang.

The late Cho held a 10.14 percent stake in Hyosung Corp., while each of his oldest and youngest sons owns over 21 percent stake in the group’s holding firm. His second-oldest son previously sold all of his shares in Hyosung affiliates.

Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, front row right, and Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang, second row second from left, look at the late Hyosung Group Honorary Chairman Cho Suck-rai's coffin as it is being loaded onto a hearse at Severance Hospital in Seoul in this April 2 file photo. Newsis

Against this backdrop, the second-oldest son also criticized his two brothers for not retracting the accusation against him.

The deceased’s oldest son sued the second-oldest in 2017 for the allegation of attempted extortion, as the latter filed a lawsuit against the former and several other Hyosung executives in 2014 for their alleged embezzlement and malpractices. The prosecutors indicted the second-oldest son in 2022, accepting the oldest son’s claims. On Monday, the late Cho’s youngest son attended a court hearing as a witness to testify that the second-oldest son had committed crimes.

“Although the late father emphasized close relations between brothers, my two brothers are still making unreasonable allegations without retracting the accusation against me,” the second-oldest son said in the statement. “I cannot understand their decision to drive me out of our father’s funeral.”

He only paid a five-minute visit to the funeral altar of his father on March 30. He was also not on the list of the bereaved family members.