Once Ranked 7th in Business Conglomerates, Now a Mid-Sized Company,
‘Kumho Asiana Group has been excluded from the list of major business conglomerates, known as chaebols, for the first time in 38 years. Facing financial difficulties, the group has removed Asiana Airlines from its affiliates, now earning the title of a mid-sized company for the first time.’
The Fair Trade Commission announced on February 28, 2025, that as of February 27, the business group ‘Kumho Asiana’ was excluded from being designated as a mutual investment restricted group and a public disclosure target group.
Korean Air, under Hanjin Group, acquired a majority stake of over 30% (63.88%) of voting shares in Asiana Airlines, which was a subsidiary of Kumho Asiana, in December last year after receiving conditional merger approval from the Fair Trade Commission and overseas competition authorities. As a result, Asiana Airlines and its seven subsidiaries were incorporated into the Hanjin Group, being excluded from Kumho Asiana’s group.
Kumho Asiana, with 24 affiliates and total assets of 17.39 trillion won, has now shrunk to 16 affiliates with total assets of approximately 3.43 trillion won.
The exclusion criteria for major business groups require a public disclosure target group to have assets less than 3.5 trillion won, and a mutual investment restricted group to have assets less than 7.28 trillion won (0.35% of GDP). Designation as a major business conglomerate requires a public disclosure target group to have assets of at least 5 trillion won and a mutual investment restricted group to have assets of at least 11.6 trillion won (0.5% of GDP).
The Fair Trade Commission explained, “The Kumho Asiana business group met the exclusion criteria due to a decrease in total assets following the removal of eight affiliated companies including Asiana Airlines.”
This marks the first time since its initial designation in 1987 that Kumho Asiana has been excluded as a major business conglomerate. Kumho Asiana was the first to be designated as a major business group when the system was introduced in January 1987. At that time, it was ranked 22nd and designated as a mutual investment restricted group and had remained designated continuously since.
Under Chairman Park Sam-koo’s aggressive management, the company once climbed to 7th place in business rankings after acquiring Daewoo Engineering & Construction in 2006 and Korea Express in 2008, amassing assets totaling 26 trillion won. However, following the sale of Asiana Airlines, only two subsidiaries, Kumho Industrial and Kumho Express, remain, effectively reducing it to a mid-sized company status.