When a U.S. fund began challenging SK Telecom in 1999, corporate Korea was only beginning to learn what shareholder activism looked like. The country had only recently emerged from the depths of the Asian financial crisis, and its capital markets were opening rapidly to foreign investors. Tiger Management built a 6.6 percent stake in the country's largest wireless carrier and pressed for changes, including stronger external oversight and a greater say in how the company was run. The Chey family, one of Korea's chaebol dynasties and the controlling family behind SK Group, spent about 2 trillion won defending its grip on the group. Within months, Tiger had reaped about 630 billion won ($463.6 million) from selling its stake. The idea that an outside investor could buy into a major Korean company and publicly demand change was still novel — and deeply unsettling to many companies. Tiger's windfall only deepened suspicions that foreign funds were enriching themselves at Korea's expense. That wariness persisted. Sovereign challenged SK Corp. in 2003. Carl Icahn took on KT&G in 2006. Elliott