Chaebol family members reap huge stock gains: report

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- Family members of South Korea's top 30 privately owned conglomerates, or chaehol, pocketed roughly 13 trillion won (US$12.1) in earnings from stocks in the past year, a report said Friday.
According to the report by Chaebol.com, the value of stocks owned by 118 chaebol family members reached 53.09 trillion won as of Thursday, up 30.8 percent or 12.50 trillion won from 40.59 trillion won a year earlier.
If dividends of 493.7 billion won are included, stock-related earnings of the chaebol family members reached 12.99 trillion won during the period, said the Internet site tracking the country's conglomerates.
An average chaebol family member posted 111 billion won in dividend income and valuation gains, although numbers were much larger for members of some chaebol groups.
Stock-related earnings of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo and his four family members jumped by the largest 3.84 trillion won. The group's flagships are Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp., whose combined output is the fifth-largest in the world.
Hyundai was followed by gains exceeding 1.79 trillion won for families who own Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipyard.
Family members of Lotte Group, South Korea's No. 5 conglomerate, earned 1.12 trillion won more in the past year from their stock holdings.
The portal, meanwhile, said that earnings from shares owned by family members who control Samsung Group, South Korea's largest chaebol, moved up by just 222.8 billion won in the past year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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