Playful Smile of Chairman Lee Jae-yong Sparks Attention
Visits Busan International Market with President Yoon Seok-yeol and Others
On the 6th, a photo capturing Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's playful expression has become a hot topic online.
On this day, numerous online communities posted a photo under titles such as "Lee Jae-yong's recent status" and "Real-time photo of Lee Jae-yong taken by a friend." In the revealed photo, Chairman Lee is seen placing his right index finger to his lips as if signaling "shh." His mischievous smile particularly draws attention.
Netizens who saw the photo responded with various comments such as, "It's refreshing to see such a playful expression after always seeing his reserved face," "I wonder what situation led to that expression," "He looks like a child full of mischief," and "He looks like a deputy manager quietly heading home to avoid the second round of company dinner."
As the post gained popularity, by 5:20 PM that day, Lee's nickname "Jae-Dragon" appeared in the real-time trends on the social networking service 'X' (formerly Twitter).
Additionally, memes using the photo also emerged. One parody, resembling a YouTube thumbnail, included the phrase "Sneaking out without paying at Shilla Hotel behind my younger sibling's back." This is a fictional YouTube thumbnail image created by netizens imagining a scenario where Chairman Lee is on YouTube. Currently, he does not operate a separate YouTube account.
The photo that sparked the buzz appears to have been taken at Ggangtong Market in Jung-gu, Busan, on the same day. Earlier, President Yoon Suk-yeol visited Busan's representative traditional markets, including Gukje Market and Ggangtong Market, along with business leaders such as Chairman Lee, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, and Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Hyun-joon, to encourage merchants struggling due to the economic downturn. Chairman Lee also tasted tteokbokki and dumplings at the market.
President Yoon Suk-yeol and Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong are tasting street foods such as tteokbokki and dumplings at Ggangtong Market in Jung-gu, Busan on the 6th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Meanwhile, Chairman Lee was found to have the highest online user interest among heads of publicly disclosed business groups designated by the Fair Trade Commission for the third quarter of this year. According to a big data analysis conducted by the polling agency Data & Research on the online interest of heads of the top 30 publicly disclosed business groups across 11 channels and 220,000 sites on the 27th of last month, Chairman Lee ranked first with overwhelming user interest among 23 heads for the third quarter. Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun ranked second, and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won took third place.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
