Questions Raised Over Hankook & Company Shareholder Group’s Motives

Questions are growing over the "Hankook & Company Shareholders Alliance," which some critics say was used as a public-relations tool by the company’s second-largest shareholder at the firm’s annual meeting. The group, formed in the name of protecting minority shareholders, is now facing allegations that it has been used to advance a legal network tied to the owner family. Industry watchers warn that if a voluntary minority-shareholder group is diverted to serve a particular faction’s interests, it could lead to unintended harm for ordinary investors.

According to the industry on April 22, attorney Kim Hak-yu, who led the alliance’s activities, was recently listed as legal counsel in a Supreme Court appeal in an ongoing lawsuit between Honorary Chairman Cho Yang-rae and his second daughter, Cho Hee-won, over the return of unjust enrichment. The case is being handled by Shinwon Law Firm, where Kim works, with the firm serving as counsel and Kim participating on the legal team.

The appeal stems from events that began in 2019, when Cho gifted Hankook Tire shares to Cho Hee-won and paid the gift tax on her behalf. After a tax tribunal canceled the gift-tax assessment, the tax authority refunded 33.3 billion won in gift tax to Cho Hee-won rather than to Cho, who had paid it. Cho then filed a lawsuit seeking the return of unjust enrichment, won in the first and second trials, and the case is now in the Supreme Court.

Kim is also the legal representative for the Hankook & Company minority-shareholder alliance. In 2025, he recruited shareholders through an open KakaoTalk chat room, saying he would "improve Hankook & Company’s outdated governance structure and maximize shareholder value." Critics, however, have described the group’s activities as one-sided.

They say the alliance focused less on proposing broader governance reforms and more on repeatedly attacking Chairman Cho Hyun-beom, the controlling shareholder, over his high compensation and calls for him to step down. Separately, it later became known that Cho Hyun-sik, a former Hankook & Company adviser who previously fought a stake battle, was involved in the alliance, prompting claims that the group has shifted into a tool to pressure management.

An industry official said minority and majority shareholders have "completely different" interests, and doubts grew after the name of a major shareholder — Cho Hyun-sik, who holds an 18.93% stake — appeared on a list of minority shareholders. The official said investors should cross-check not slogans about "protecting minority shareholders" but who is acting, what interests they have, and where the effort is headed.




* This article has been translated by AI.

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