SK heiress confirmed to be with Second Fleet

Chey Min-jung

Chey Min-jung, 24, the daughter of SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and a first lieutenant in the Navy, is currently serving in the Second Fleet, responsible for guarding the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, Navy sources confirmed on Tuesday.

“First Lieutenant Chey has been based in the battle squadron headquarters under the Second Fleet since late January,” one source said. “She had expressed a desire to work in combat service and was dispatched to the Second Fleet.”

The Second Fleet fought against North Korea in the First and Second Battles of Yeonpyeong, confrontations at sea that took place in 1999 and 2002, respectively, as well as in the Battle of Daecheong, a skirmish in 2009 near the NLL off Daecheong Island.

Chey is responsible for communications within the fleet and with other units on land. During drills and military operations, she is supposed to board the fleet.

The Korean Navy rotates its soldiers between land and the fleet, according to the source. Because First Lieutenant Chey already served on the KDX-II Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin Class warship, she is currently in commission on land.

The SK heiress was involved in battle intelligence operations for six months in the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy against Korean commercial vessels near the coast between Yemen and Somalia.

Chey made headlines in September 2014 when she volunteered for midshipman training at the Naval Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant the following November - an unprecedented feat for the daughter of one of the nation’s top corporate CEOs.

“She is reluctant to be in the spotlight just because she is a chaebol heiress,” a Navy officer said. “She does not wish to be interviewed by the media either.”

Chey could not be reached for comment.

BY JEONG YONG-SOO [seo.jieun@joongang.co.kr]