When two longtime business partners established a subsidiary 50 years ago to make zinc out of an industrial complex set up by South Korea’s government, they settled on an unusual division of power.
The new venture, Korea Zinc, would be managed by the Choi family. The existing parent company, Young Poong, would be run by the other founder’s household, the Chang family. Both clans agreed to respect each other’s management. The arrangement came to be known as “two families under one roof.”
Korea Zinc went on to become the world’s largest producer of zinc and an essential cog of South Korea’s economy.
But now the relationship between the Chois and the Changs has broken down in dramatic fashion. The descendants of the two founders, who died decades ago, are locked in a bare-knuckle fight for control of Korea Zinc.