Chairman Lee Kun-hee's hearse is leaving Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Campus after completing its final journey/Photo by Ki-min Lee victor.lee@
Lee Kun-hee, the semiconductor giant who planted the DNA of world-class excellence in South Korea, entered eternal rest on the 28th at the Samsung family ancestral burial site in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
The chairman's funeral service was held privately from 7:20 a.m. that day at Samsung Medical Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Family members including Hong Ra-hee, former director of the Leeum Museum of Art, Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, Lee Boo-jin, president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, chairwoman of the Samsung Welfare Foundation, as well as relatives such as his younger sister Lee Myung-hee, chairwoman of Shinsegae Group, nephews Jung Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae Group, Jung Yoo-kyung, president of Shinsegae Department Store, Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of CJ Group, and Cho Dong-gil, chairman of Hansol Group attended. Jeong Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, and Lee Woong-yeol, honorary chairman of Kolon Group, also mourned the great star of the Korean economy until the end.
The funeral service proceeded in the order of a biography report by Lee Soo-bin, chairman of Samsung Economic Research Institute, memories shared by Kim Pil-gyu, former chairman of KPK Trading and a high school classmate of the deceased, a memorial video screening, and floral tributes by attendees. During the biography report, Lee Soo-bin recalled the late chairman's life, who laid the foundation of the semiconductor industry by acquiring Korea Semiconductor in 1974 and grew Samsung into a global company through the New Management initiative. At the part where he said "entered eternal rest," his voice choked, and he momentarily lost his words.
Chairman Kim Pil-gyu reminisced about the deceased's extraordinary nature in childhood, his curiosity and dedication to new technologies, and the episode of advising his father, the late Lee Byung-chul, the previous chairman, to enter the semiconductor industry. Kim said, "There is a saying 'Seung-eobu,' meaning to surpass one's father. This is the first step of filial piety." He added, "I have traveled around the world, but I have never seen anyone more 'Seung-eobu' than Chairman Lee," recalling his childhood friend. He comforted, "Lee Jae-yong, who learned over Chairman Lee's shoulder, will write a new history and further strengthen Samsung."
The funeral procession for Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee was held on the morning of the 28th at the Samsung Seoul Hospital funeral hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics (from the right), Hong Ra-hee, former director, Lee Boo-jin, CEO of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun, Chairwoman of the Samsung Welfare Foundation, are seen getting out of the vehicle and entering the funeral hall. [Photo by Yonhap News]
After the funeral service, the bereaved family moved in a funeral procession, immersed in grief. Former director Hong Ra-hee boarded the family bus with a sorrowful expression. The eldest daughter, Lee Boo-jin, wept loudly, supported alternately by Hong and her brother, Lee Jae-yong.
Former and current Samsung executives also boarded a small bus and followed the hearse. Former Vice Chairman Choi Ji-sung of Samsung Future Strategy Office, former Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo of Samsung Electronics, Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam of Samsung Electronics DS Division, President Lee In-yong of Samsung Electronics, and Chairman Lee Soo-bin among other senior executives of Samsung boarded the vehicle with heavy expressions.
The hearse carrying Chairman Lee left Samsung Medical Center around 8:55 a.m. About 250 people, including citizens and reporters, gathered around the hearse to catch a last glimpse of the chairman. The funeral procession visited the late chairman's residence in Yongsan-gu, Seungjiwon, and the Leeum Museum of Art before heading to Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong campus.
A banner featuring photos of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee and former Leeum Museum Director Hong Ra-hee is hung at the H1 main gate of Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Campus. Photo by Lee Ki-min victor.lee
At 11 a.m., Lee Kun-hee made his final commute through the H1 main gate of Samsung Electronics Hwaseong campus. The Hwaseong campus is the core base of Samsung's semiconductor business, producing memory semiconductors and system semiconductors. The Giheung and Hwaseong semiconductor plants, completed before the Pyeongtaek campus, are the birthplace of Samsung Electronics' memory semiconductor production.
In 1983, Chairman Lee, along with former chairman Lee Byung-chul, personally secured the site, oversaw construction, and even attended the completion ceremony, showing deep attachment to the site. Chairman Lee attended eight official events from the 1984 Giheung Samsung Semiconductor and Telecommunications VLSI plant completion ceremony to the 2011 Hwaseong Semiconductor Line 16 groundbreaking and subsequent completion.
About 1,000 employees of the Hwaseong campus, where Samsung's semiconductor legend continues, lined the roadside holding chrysanthemums, accompanying the chairman from his final commute to the H3 gate, his departure point.
From two hours before arrival, many employees gathered, receiving about 3,000 chrysanthemums prepared by the company, standing in 4 to 5 rows along both sides of the approximately 2 km road within the Hwaseong campus. Employees displayed banners reading, "It was an honor to take a vigorous leap toward 100 years of semiconductors with the chairman" and "We will continue to create the semiconductor legend."
Chairman Lee Kun-hee's hearse is leaving Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Campus after completing its final journey/Photo by Ki-min Lee victor.lee@
Employees of Samsung Electronics Hwaseong Campus mourned Chairman Lee Kun-hee by hanging a banner featuring a photo of Chairman Lee Kun-hee and Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong standing side by side at Line 16 on the 28th. Photo by Ki-min Lee victor.lee@
When the funeral procession entered Hwaseong Semiconductor Line 16, family members including Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong briefly got off the vehicle. A two-minute video of Chairman Lee's past visit to Line 16 was screened, and male and female employees wearing cleanroom suits carried Line 16 wafers to pay tribute to the deceased. Before boarding the bus, the bereaved family bowed deeply to the employees, who in turn shed tears watching the chairman's final journey.
At Line 16, a banner hung with a message reading, "Based on the chairman's deep love sent to Line 16, we will firmly establish world No. 1 NAND flash super-gap competitiveness," alongside photos of Chairman Lee and Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
The funeral procession left the Hwaseong campus and arrived at the Samsung family ancestral burial site in Imok-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon City, at 12:10 p.m. After a burial ceremony lasting about an hour and a half, Lee Kun-hee was interred. The Suwon family burial ground is where the parents and grandparents of former chairman Lee Byung-chul rest. It is known that, according to the wishes of Mrs. Hong Ra-hee, the site was chosen in Suwon rather than the Yongin family burial ground.
The funeral procession for the late Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Group, was held on the morning of the 28th at the Samsung Medical Center Funeral Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with family members and officials carrying the portrait of the deceased. Photo by Joint Press Corps
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