Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's Message Release Interest
Behind the words of gratitude for the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee installed at the Park Soo-keun Art Museum in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon, are artworks donated by Samsung. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] June 25 marks the first anniversary of the passing of the late Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Group. It is anticipated that the memorial event for the first anniversary will be held quietly, centered around the bereaved family, considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
According to business circles on the 17th, the first anniversary memorial service for Chairman Lee Kun-hee is expected to be held on the 25th at the family burial site in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with family members in attendance. Since the social distancing adjustment plan, effective until the 31st, classifies gatherings as private meetings, only up to eight people, including four fully vaccinated individuals, can attend. Accordingly, it is expected that only some family members such as Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics and former Leeum Museum Director Hong Ra-hee, along with some Samsung executives, will attend.
The expectation of a modest first anniversary event also reflects the circumstances surrounding Vice Chairman Lee and Samsung Electronics. Vice Chairman Lee was sentenced to prison in January this year in a trial related to the state affairs manipulation case and was released on parole on August 13. Since then, he has refrained from external activities, mindful of controversies such as employment restrictions raised by civic groups.
Vice Chairman Lee is also required to attend court hearings weekly. He has been appearing every Thursday in court on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. The first trial sentencing related to allegations of illegal propofol administration is scheduled for the day after the first anniversary, on the 26th.
For Samsung Electronics, although it achieved the highest quarterly sales ever in the third quarter this year (73 trillion won), the stock price has been significantly volatile amid forecasts of a decline in DRAM prices in the fourth quarter. Additionally, the Biden administration in the U.S. has requested Samsung Electronics and other global semiconductor companies to submit sensitive information such as customer data and sales volume under the pretext of normalizing supply chains. Samsung must decide by the 8th of next month how much to respond to this survey. Recently, Samsung Electronics also attended a White House meeting where cooperation was requested to resolve the logistics crisis at West Coast ports in the U.S.
On the other hand, with pressing issues including semiconductor investment plans, there is speculation that the Vice Chairman may expand his management activities on the occasion of the first anniversary. Accordingly, there is interest in whether Vice Chairman Lee will issue a separate message at the memorial service. Some also predict that instead of an external event, an online memorial hall might be set up within the Samsung Group’s internal system.
Regarding this, a Samsung official stated, "Whether to hold a memorial service, how it will be conducted if held, and who will attend have not yet been specifically discussed, and there is nothing official to confirm," adding, "It seems a decision will be made as the first anniversary approaches."
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