Chaebol family minors own 96.2 bln won in shares: report

Minors belonging to families that control South Korea's large business conglomerates, or chaebol, hold 96.2 billion won ($81.4 million) in shares, a report by an opposition lawmaker's office showed Wednesday.

According to data provided by the Fair Trade Commission to Rep. Shin Hak-yong's office, 39 children and teenagers who are directly related to owners of 15 conglomerates had stakes in their affiliates as of Sept. 8.

This translates into an average 2.5 billion won worth of shares per person, the findings showed.

Of the chaebol groups, six minors belonging to the GS Group controlled stakes worth 71 billion won, or 73.8 percent of the total, with each holding an average of 11.8 billion won.

KCC reported one minor owning 10.7 billion won in shares, with Doosan having three minors holding a combined 3.7 billion won.

Besides the three groups, minors belonging to Lotte, LS, Daelim, OCI, Hyosung, Dongkuk Steel Mill, Hankook Tire, Taekwang, SeAH, Hyundai Development, Daesung and Jungheung Construction held shares in affiliates, the lawmaker's office said.

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has raised the issue of slapping stiffer taxes on large businesses and better regulating the transfer of wealth between family members. (Yonhap)