Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong Pays Condolences at the Funeral of Late Committee Member Ko Gye-hyun of Samsung Compliance Committee

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (front row, right) is heading to the funeral hall of the late Ko Gye-hyun, a member of the Samsung Compliance Committee, along with Samsung officials including President Lee In-yong (left) and President Sung In-hee (center).
[Photo by Lee Ki-min]

[Asia Economy Reporters Heungsun Kim, Gimin Lee] Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, visited the funeral hall of the late Ko Gye-hyun, Secretary General of the Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Association, who had served as a member of the Samsung Compliance Committee, on the 26th.

Vice Chairman Lee appeared at the funeral hall at Seoul Gangnam St. Mary's Hospital around 6:20 p.m. along with Samsung officials including President Lee In-yong and President Sung In-hee. It is known that after finishing the trial held at the Seoul Central District Court earlier that day, he left the court around 6 p.m. and headed directly to the funeral hall.

This was the first time Vice Chairman Lee appeared in public outside of his trial schedule since his parole on the 13th. He also had his first meeting here with the Compliance Committee members, including Chairman Kim Ji-hyung, who had visited the funeral hall earlier. After paying respects at the funeral hall, Vice Chairman Lee left the venue after about 10 minutes. He did not respond to reporters' questions about his feelings.

The late Secretary General passed away on the same day due to an illness at the age of 56. Born in 1965 in Mokpo, Jeonnam, he graduated from the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Kookmin University and began his civic activism in 1995 as a secretary of the Citizens' Legislation Committee of the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ). He served as head of policy research, policy director, communications director, and was the longest-serving Secretary General (2010?2016), dedicating 22 years to CCEJ.

He was also actively involved in coalition activities beyond CCEJ. He participated in the Citizens' Coalition for Eradicating Money Politics in 1997, the Citizens' Coalition for Monitoring National Assembly Audits in 2000, the People's Movement for Political Reform in 2003, the Global Poverty Eradication Citizens' Network in 2011, and the National Network for Revitalizing Social Enterprises in 2013.

Since last year, he had been participating as a member of the Samsung Compliance Committee, overseeing issues such as labor unions and management succession. Despite his illness, he attended Compliance Committee meetings without fail until recently. Chairman Kim Ji-hyung expressed his sorrow, saying, "Despite difficult circumstances, the late member worked diligently on Compliance Committee tasks and never showed signs of illness, so those around him did not know about his condition."

It is also reported that Vice Chairman Lee was deeply saddened upon hearing the news of the late Secretary General's passing.

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