Lee Ji-ho (24), the eldest son of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, was seen enlisting on the 15th as a Navy officer candidate.
In photos from the enlistment ceremony released by Samsung Electronics that day, Lee, with closely cropped hair, wore a comfortable outfit of a navy top and jeans and kept a calm expression ahead of enlistment. Another photo captured him saluting with his fellow enlistees.
At about 1:05 p.m. that day, Lee passed through Guard Post No. 3 at the Jinhae Naval Base Command in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Gyeongsang, while riding in a minivan. His mother, Daesang Holdings Vice Chairman Lim Se-ryeong, and his younger sister, Lee Won-ju (21), accompanied him at the enlistment site.
As a 139th-class Navy officer candidate, he will undergo 11 weeks of officer education and training and is set to be commissioned as a Navy second lieutenant on Dec. 1. Second lieutenant is the lowest of the three company-grade officer ranks. The total length of his military service is 39 months, including the training period and 36 months of mandatory service after commissioning.
His assignment is as a shipboard interpreter officer. The unit of assignment will be determined at commissioning, taking into account training performance and personnel needs by military specialty.
Born in the United States in 2000 and previously holding dual citizenship in Korea and the United States, Lee renounced his U.S. citizenship to fulfill his military duty as a Navy officer. Under current law, unlike enlisted soldiers, only citizens with single nationality of the Republic of Korea may be commissioned as officers.