A memorial service marking the 38th anniversary of the death of Samsung founder and former chairman Hoam, Lee Byung-chul, was held on the 19th at the family burial site near the Hoam Museum of Art in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.
According to the business community, groups affiliated with the broader Samsung family, including Samsung, Shinsegae, CJ, and Hansol, visited the Yongin family burial site at different times that day. From Samsung, Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, president of Samsung C&T, visited the site at about 10:40 a.m. that day.
Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Electronics and grandson of the late chairman, did not attend the memorial service that day as he was in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the 19th (local time) for the Korea-UAE Business Round Table (BRT). In the business community, there is talk that Lee will visit the family burial site separately after returning to pay his respects. The Samsung owner family, excluding Lee, stayed at the burial site for about an hour.
Lee Jay-hyun, chairman of CJ Group and Hoam's eldest grandson, also visited the Yongin burial site with his family at about 9:20 a.m. that day. His son, Lee Sun-ho, head of future planning at CJ Corporation, and his spouse, and his daughter, Lee Kyung-hoo, head of brand strategy at CJ ENM, and her spouse, visited together and stayed for about 40 minutes. Chairman Lee Jay-hyun, separate from the memorial service, will hold ancestral rites in the evening at the old house in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, where Hoam lived during his lifetime, as in past years.
In the afternoon, Hoam's grandson through his daughter, Cho Dong-gil, chairman of Hansol Group, and the Shinsegae Group presidents will visit the burial site to pay their respects. In the afternoon, Hoam's grandson through his daughter, Cho Dong-gil, chairman of Hansol Group, and the Shinsegae Group presidents will visit the burial site to pay their respects.
In the past, families from groups affiliated with the broader Samsung family held Hoam's memorial service jointly, but since 2012, when brothers former CJ Chairman Lee Maeng-hee and the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee engaged in an inheritance dispute, they have held separate events on the same day at different times. As in last year, Samsung's presidents did not attend this year's memorial service.
Samsung C&T traces its beginnings to founder Lee Byung-chul establishing Samsung Sanghoe in 1938 to export fruits and dried seafood. Cheil Jedang, which he started in 1953 with the sugar business, is the origin of CJ Group.