SEOUL, March 11 (UPI) -- South Korea's scandal-tainted tycoon, Chey Tae-won, defeated an attempt by foreign investors Friday to oust him as head of SK Corp., the country's top refiner.
Chey, chairman of SK Corp, was reelected at an annual general meeting as more than 60 percent of shareholders on hand voted for a company proposal to renew his three-year term as an executive director.
Chey, heir to the company's founding family, controls the country's fourth-largest conglomerate, SK Group, as the leader of SK Corp, the group's flagship.
His victory was a major blow to Sovereign Asset Management, which had led a push to unseat Chey, who has been accused in a massive accounting scandal. Last year, the Dubai-based fund, the single largest shareholder, lost a voting showdown to shake up the family-run management.
Chey was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison for accounting fraud, but is currently out on bail.
Analysts here said Sovereign might sell off its stake in SK Corp. as it has already made a substantial profit, estimated at more than $1 billion, thanks to a soaring share price.
