Memorial Ceremony for Samsung Founder Lee Byung-chul... Lee Jae-yong and Extended Samsung Family Attend (Comprehensive)

On the morning of the 19th, Hong Ra-hee, former director of the Leeum Museum of Art, and Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, attended the 32nd anniversary memorial service for Hoam Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung Group, held at the family grave near Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The 35th anniversary memorial service for Hoam Lee Byung-chul, the founder of Samsung Group, was held on the morning of the 18th at the family burial site near the Hoam Museum in Yongin. Among those who visited the burial site were Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics and grandson of the founder, as well as members of the extended Samsung family including CJ, Shinsegae, and Hansol.

The 35th anniversary memorial service for the founder was held a day earlier on the morning of the 18th because the actual anniversary falls on Saturday (the 19th). In the past, the Hoam memorial service was held jointly, but since 2012, when brothers CJ’s former chairman Lee Maeng-hee and Samsung’s former chairman Lee Kun-hee were involved in an inheritance dispute, the memorial services have been held separately on the same day at different times.

Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of CJ Group, was the first among the extended Samsung family to visit the burial site. The ancestral rites, which are held separately from the memorial service, are also conducted separately by the eldest grandson, the CJ chairman. Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics, who was unable to attend last year’s 34th anniversary memorial service due to a business trip to the United States, attended this year along with Hong Ra-hee, former director of the Leeum Museum of Art, Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, chairwoman of the Samsung Welfare Foundation. This is his first attendance at the founder’s memorial service since becoming chairman.

On the 18th, the 35th anniversary memorial service for Hoam Lee Byung-chul, the founding chairman of Samsung Group, was held at the family burial site in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, attended by Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of CJ Group. / Yongin - Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Earlier, Samsung clarified the titles for founder Lee Byung-chul and former chairman Lee Kun-hee. Before Lee Jae-yong’s promotion to chairman, they were referred to as former chairman Lee Byung-chul and chairman Lee Kun-hee, but after Lee’s promotion, it became necessary to clarify the titles to avoid confusion.

The founder was born in 1910 in Uiryeong, Gyeongsangnam-do, and established ‘Samsung Sanghoe’ on March 1, 1938. He started his business by exporting fruits and dried seafood to China and Manchuria. Later, recognizing that trade was urgent for Korea’s economic development, which lacked capital, technology, and sufficient power supply, he established Samsung Trading Corporation in 1948 and began full-scale trading operations.

In 1953, he founded Cheil Jedang and started the sugar business, followed by the establishment of Cheil Industries (1954), Samsung Electronics (1969), and Samsung Heavy Industries (1974), consecutively building companies that greatly contributed to the national economy.

Representative management philosophies of the founder include ‘Business for the Nation,’ ‘Talent First,’ and ‘Pursuit of Rationality.’

‘Business for the Nation’ means contributing and serving the country, society, and ultimately humanity through business. ‘Talent First’ refers to respecting human beings and creating conditions where individuals can maximize their abilities, becoming a driving force for personal and social development. The founder emphasized that no matter how excellent the meanings of ‘Business for the Nation’ and ‘Talent First’ are, if they are not based on rationality, their essence can be compromised. Therefore, all management activities must pursue reason and rationality.

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