SK chairman’s daughter applies to serve as Navy officer

Former U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush all served as Navy officers. Except the 40th President Ronald Reagan, all U.S. presidents from the 35th to the 41st were monopolized by ex-Navy officers. Other than Carter, who was a Navy Academy cadet during World War II, five others were war veterans who fought in battles. A Navy officer serving on a Navy vessel, struggling to overcome high waves, requires leadership and spirit of sacrifice. As a result, people say that a person who served as a Navy officer is dependable and trustworthy whatever mission is granted.

Chey Min-jeong, second daughter of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, applied for a program recruiting Navy cadet candidates, drawing keen attention from the public. After conducting an interview and physical examination last month, she is waiting for final results that will come out on Friday. Thus far, most of those who passed the interview have been admitted. Unless something unexpected comes up, she will be commissioned as second lieutenant on Dec. 1. The branch of service she applied is an officer boarding a naval ship, which entails tougher assignments than other branches of service. Facing high waves on the bridge of the battleship’s deck, she must examine violent high waves for hours. She has reportedly expressed strong enthusiasm to serve in a challenging post.

She graduated from Beijing University in China in July. She earned living expense by working as a teacher at cram schools, and paid her tuition and living expenses with scholarships, which illustrates her strong sense of independence. Close to perfectionist in character whatever she does, she even took on penniless journey in China with friends, which demonstrates her adventurism. Originally, she hoped to join an elite military unit rather than serving as an officer, but she changed her mind to become a Navy officer in the face of objection by her family. She acquired permission from her father who remains in jail due to an investment scandal, when she visited the father early this year.

The junior Chey’s maternal grandfather is former President Roh Tae-woo, who retired as full general of the Army. Roh is struggling with prostatic cancer from 2002 but reportedly smiled upon hearing the news on her. Her mother Roh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, said, “As a daughter of a military serviceman, I am very pleased and grateful.” People around her family say that she apparently inherited military DNA from her grandfather. It gives fresh feeling that Chey Min-jeong has displayed "Noblesse Oblige" in a way that is different from daughters of other chaelbol families do.