Business Leaders Who Gave Up Holidays Visit Domestic and Overseas Sites and Plan New Ventures

Lee Jae-yong Overseas Business Trip... Possible Major M&A Moves
Choi Tae-won Also Handles Korea Chamber of Commerce Duties
Jung Eui-sun Likely to Review Business Status

Major conglomerate heads such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG are expected to focus on reviewing current issues and future management plans by visiting domestic and overseas business sites during this year's Lunar New Year holiday. Given the persistent uncertainties in the domestic and international business environment, including US-China conflicts and supply chain disruptions, they are anticipated to devote themselves to finding solutions to overcome crises and discover new growth strategies.

According to the business community on the 7th, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong departed from Gimpo Airport on the afternoon of the 6th via a chartered flight. This marks his first public activity since being acquitted in the first trial, and, as in previous years, it appears he plans to use the Lunar New Year holiday to visit overseas business sites.

He is reportedly scheduled to visit local business sites in Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia to encourage employees.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong is entering the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center in Gangseo-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 6th to depart the country.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Until now, Chairman Lee had faced some restrictions on overseas business trips due to attending trials once or twice a week, but he has been managing on-site operations during the holiday breaks when trials were paused. With this verdict freeing him from management constraints, Chairman Lee is expected to travel worldwide, build networks with global big-tech CEOs, and accelerate the discovery of new businesses.

Chairman Lee has previously traveled abroad during holiday periods. During last year's Chuseok holiday, he visited three Middle Eastern countries?Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt?to inspect the Neom mountain tunnel construction site involving Samsung C&T and to encourage employees. During the 2022 Chuseok, he reviewed Samsung Electronics’ Latin American operations at its Mexico and Panama subsidiaries and sent dried yellow corvina fish gift sets to the families of 20 long-term business travelers from Samsung affiliates who could not return home during the holiday.

The heads of the five major conglomerates who attended the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable held last March. Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group (from left), Koo Kwang-mo, Chairman of LG Group, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who had a hectic schedule last year including efforts to host the Busan Expo, is also expected to focus on management planning domestically during the Lunar New Year holiday.

As the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he is also expected to review preparations for participating in economic delegations to Germany and Denmark after the holiday. Considering Germany’s strengths in automobiles, electronic components, and small and medium-sized enterprises, and Denmark’s strengths in bio and renewable energy sectors, he is likely to explore cooperation plans between the two countries focusing on these areas.

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun is reported to be reviewing business strategies domestically during this Lunar New Year holiday. A Hyundai Motor official stated, "There is no schedule for visiting overseas business sites during the holiday period."

LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo will also stay in Korea during the Lunar New Year holiday to focus on management planning. He is expected to review current issues and progress in core businesses such as electronics, chemicals, and telecommunications, as well as future businesses like batteries and electronic components, while refining strategies that focus on customer experience and customer value.

Customer value and customer experience innovation have been management philosophies that Chairman Koo has consistently emphasized since his inauguration. The business direction he has set is to place the customer at the center of all LG businesses. In his New Year's address earlier this year, Chairman Koo emphasized, "Over the past five years, as we have strived to innovate customer value, customers’ expectations have risen along with our enhanced capabilities, and all companies are fiercely competing by talking about customer experience innovation to survive. In this situation, to leap forward as the best customer experience innovation company, ‘immersion in differentiated customer value’ is necessary."

Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun of HD Hyundai, who attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the World Economic Forum last month, is also expected to remain in Korea.

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