Lee Jae-yong "Companies Must Give Hope to Society" Presides Over Lee Byung-chul Memorial Ceremony (Comprehensive)

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee, Yongin=Reporter Gimin Lee] Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong attended the memorial service for Hoam Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung Group, and emphasized that "companies must give hope to society."

On the morning of the 19th, at the memorial site near the Hoam Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Vice Chairman Lee, along with former Leeum Museum Director Hong Ra-hee, Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin, Samsung Welfare Foundation Chairperson Lee Seo-hyun, and other family members, as well as key executives including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam and Presidents Kim Hyun-suk and Ko Dong-jin, attended the memorial service.

The family, including Vice Chairman Lee, arrived at the memorial site around 11 a.m. and immediately held the service. Afterwards, around 11:30 a.m., Vice Chairman Lee held a luncheon with the presidents of Samsung affiliates at the Samsung Human Resources Development Center.

At the memorial service held three weeks after the passing of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee on the 25th of last month, Vice Chairman Lee presented the values Samsung should prioritize and the management direction it should take in the future to the presidents of Samsung affiliates.

After expressing gratitude to the presidents who supported during Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s funeral, he said, "The chairman always taught us that companies must contribute to the national economy and provide hope to society. Let us inherit and develop the founding philosophy of serving the nation through business established by the previous chairman."

After his father’s passing, Vice Chairman Lee, who had no public external activities for a while, visited the Samsung Electronics Seoul R&D Campus on the 12th, chaired a design strategy meeting, and said, "Let us put our soul into design" and "Let us achieve a design revolution once again," marking the resumption of his full-scale management activities.

On the morning of the 19th, the 33rd anniversary memorial service for Ho-Am Lee Byung-chul, the founding chairman of Samsung Group, was held. The convoy of vehicles carrying Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong and his party entered the family burial ground near the Ho-Am Art Museum in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Vice Chairman Lee attended the memorial service on behalf of his father after Chairman Lee Kun-hee collapsed in 2014 but was absent in 2017 due to imprisonment related to the national corruption scandal. In 2018, he visited the memorial site a week before the memorial service due to an overseas business trip, and last year, he attended the memorial service again after three years.

At last year’s memorial service, Vice Chairman Lee dined with the presidents of Samsung Group affiliates and said, "Let us honor the founding philosophy of serving the nation through business of the previous chairman and contribute to our society and country," adding, "Let us break existing frameworks and limits, gather wisdom, and overcome the current crisis so that it becomes an opportunity for the future."

With the passing of his father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee, Samsung has entered the full-fledged Lee Jae-yong era and is facing internal and external difficulties. Samsung is currently confronted with judicial risks such as the retrial of the national corruption scandal and management succession related to the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger. Legal circles expect that the verdict for the national corruption trial could be delivered as early as this year.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is significant domestic and international management uncertainty, and there are numerous internal and external variables to address, including changes in the trade environment triggered by the U.S.-China conflict and inheritance issues.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.