Nearly four out of 10 heirs of big business conglomerates studied abroad, according to a study. The trend is more pronounced among younger children of the owners of the so-called chaebol.

Portal site Chaebul.com said Monday research on 146 children of chaebol owners showed that 59 went to university overseas. Forty-two attended high school in Korea first, and 17 also went to high school abroad.

Among 31 heirs in their 40s that were included in the study, only 10 went to university abroad, as did 5 out of 25 in their 50s. For those in their 60s the number was 9 out of 38.

But more than half of heirs in their 30s -- 15 out of 29 -- had a bachelor degree from foreign universities, and among young heirs in their 20s, the number was 20 out of 23, or 87 percent. This is in line with the nationwide trend where huge numbers of young Koreans have been leaving the country to study overseas since 2000.

Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee favors education abroad for his children, but Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group chairman Chung Mong-koo sent his kids to school at home, perhaps reflecting differing management philosophies.