Lee Jae-yong to Depart for Canada and the US on the 14th... Likely to Decide on Foundry Investment

Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will embark on a business trip to Canada and the United States on the 14th. This is his first overseas trip since his parole on August 13, and his first visit to the U.S. in five years since 2016. Through this overseas trip, it is expected that progress will be made in resolving pending issues such as selecting a new site for Samsung Electronics' U.S. foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) plant.

According to business circles on the 13th, Vice Chairman Lee is scheduled to depart for Canada on the morning of the 14th. In Canada, his first destination, he is expected to visit the local Samsung Electronics Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Center.

He is then expected to visit the United States to decide on the site for the U.S. foundry plant. The leading candidate for the foundry plant, which Samsung Electronics plans to build with an investment of $17 billion (approximately 20 trillion KRW), is currently Taylor City in Texas. Austin City, where the existing foundry plant is located, is also under consideration. Business circles speculate that Vice Chairman Lee will personally inspect these candidate sites before Samsung Electronics makes the final investment decision.

Previously, even after his parole, Vice Chairman Lee had difficulty traveling abroad due to attending trials every Thursday related to the Samsung C&T merger and allegations of accounting fraud at Samsung Biologics. However, since no trials are scheduled on the 18th due to the university entrance exam, it is anticipated that he will use this two-week gap to visit the United States.

Business circles expect that this U.S. trip will mark an expansion of Vice Chairman Lee's management activities and that the 'New Samsung' he envisions will gain momentum in earnest.

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