Search Results for: lee jae-yong

Of course the DPK is going to lie and claim a soju party is what caused South Korea to lose the Expo vote, but this is not a good look for a President to be out with private business CEOs like this:

President Yoon Suk Yeol toasts with Dutch Queen Maxima during a state banquet at the Royal Palace Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Dec. 13 (local time). Joint Press Corps

President Yoon Suk Yeol is mired in controversy over his recent international trips, with reports alleging he had “a secret drinking session” with accompanying business tycoons in France, and the Korean ambassador to the Netherlands being summoned by the Dutch government over Yoon staffers’ excessive demands on presidential protocol.

The Hankyoreh newspaper reported on Friday that Yoon had a closed-door dinner and drinks at a Korean restaurant in Paris on Nov. 24. Attending was Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and other business leaders who accompanied Yoon to assist Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030.

It was four days before the Expo’s governing body held a vote to select the host city of the 2030 event. Busan lost to Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh in a 29-119 count, despite efforts from the government, the public and major Korean businesses.

It was Yoon’s second visit to Paris this year as part of campaigning to promote the city’s bid. The presidential office described the trip as “a tireless journey that wasted not even a second,” while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) raised suspicion that it could have been a junket.

“While spending taxpayer’s money for a foreign visit, Yoon had a soju bomb dinner with conglomerates. Since when did binge drinking become a tireless journey?” DPK spokesperson Rep. Kang Sun-woo said in a commentary.

“Is the reason for bringing business leaders on foreign trips to find someone to join in the drinking sessions? No wonder a shocking outcome of 29-119 has unfolded.”

Lee Un-ju, a former lawmaker of the ruling People Power Party, said in a radio interview with CBS that Yoon and his cohorts behavior gives a misconception to foreign investors that Korea is a corrupt country where the government and businesses collude.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but President Yoon definitely has a lot of unforced errors that feeds negative press coverage of him.

Some happy chaebol chiefs today in South Korea:

Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a total of 24 agreements worth $6.1 billion in traditional industries, such as energy and defense, as well as emerging businesses, including hydrogen, mobility, bio and digital transformation, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Monday.

The ministry said about 320 officials from business lobby groups, Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group and other Korean companies, who accompanied President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to the Middle Eastern country, held the Korea-UAE Business Forum at the Rixos Marina Abu Dhabi hotel.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Congratulations to Ms. Lee for her promotion:

Samsung Electronics appointed the company’s first female president during its annual executive reshuffle, indicating Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s intention to break the glass ceiling at his company.

The tech giant announced on Monday that Vice President Lee Young-hee was promoted to president to lead the global marketing office of the device eXperience (DX) division, which oversees the mobile device and home appliance businesses. She is credited for Samsung using purple, instead of blue, for its marketing campaign.

She also became Samsung Group’s first female president who is not related to late founder Lee Byung-chul. Hotel Shilla President and CEO Lee Boo-jin, the younger sister of the Samsung Electronics chairman, had been the only female president at Korea’s largest conglomerate.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Not only will he speak at the National Assembly, but he is expected to meet with top Korean business leaders as well:

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been invited to speak at the National Assembly during his stay in Korea on Aug. 15-17, but all eyes are on whether he will meet with key business leaders during his visit, according to industry officials, Wednesday. 

Gates will visit the Assembly at 10 a.m. on Aug. 16 and meet with Speaker Kim Jin-pyo. At 10:40 a.m., he will give a speech on the topic of “The importance of international cooperation and Korea’s leadership for coping with and preparing for COVID-19 and future infectious diseases” at the plenary session of the Special Committee on Budget and Settlement of the National Assembly.

This is Gates’s first visit to the National Assembly since 2013. Back then, he gave a lecture on the topic of “Smart Aid: Innovation for a Better World and a Stronger Korea” at the National Assembly at the invitation of then-Saenuri Party (currently known as the People Power Party) member Chung Mong-joon.

Afterward, Gates met up with key businesspeople during his past visits to Korea and all eyes are on whom he will meet this time around.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is probably a smart move with the amount of major car companies now offering electric vehicle options that is driving increased competition. If Samsung wanted to get into this market they should have done it at least a decade ago in order to already have captured market share like Tesla has done:

But at Samsung, still Apple’s top rival in the smartphone segment, its proven “go-to-market strategy” won’t be applied in the finished EV segment, as the Korean tech behemoth decided recently not to manufacture its own brand of EVs, as two senior executives, both of whom are directly involved in the issue, told The Korea Times. 

The core reasons behind this decision are that it doesn’t believe its entry into the finished EV segment will see sustainable profits, and it holds the intention to continue avoiding any possible conflicts with its top clients, amid the focus on its contract-based semiconductor foundry business, according to them.

“After thorough reviews, response and discussions with clients, top Samsung management reached a consensus that making a foray into the finished EV segment won’t be the right fit both in terms of a profit standpoint and from a client management perspective,” one of the sources said on condition of anonymity.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I always figured a chaebol family figure would lead this ranking, but it ends up being a self made tech entrepreneur instead:

The self-made founder of Kakao has become the country’s richest person, backed by stock gains this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bloomberg reported that Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su, 55, has a net worth of $13.4 billion (15.4 trillion won), which places him at the top of Korea’s wealth rankings. Following him is Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, with a net worth of $12.1 billion.

Kim’s assets ballooned by more than $6 billion this year as Kakao’s share price surged 91 percent from early January. The tech company’s stock gains were fueled by scheduled listings of multiple affiliates this year, including internet-based lender Kakao Bank, which will make its local stock market debut next month.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Could you imagine having to pay this much in taxes:

The scions of Samsung Group, South Korea’s top conglomerate, are likely to unveil a plan this week on how to finance their massive inheritance tax, which includes the donation of late group chief Lee Kun-hee’s art collections.

The senior Lee, who was South Korea’s richest man, left more than 22 trillion won ($19.6 billion) worth of assets, including stocks valued around 19 trillion won.

Lee, who died in October last year at age 78, was survived by his wife, Hong Ra-hee, only son, Jae-yong, and two daughters — Boo-jin and Seo-hyun.

Lee’s family members are expected to pay around 12 trillion won in inheritance taxes for the late chief’s assets. 

They have to report and pay inheritance taxes to local authorities by the end of this month.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but you know a tax bill is high when Samsung heirs are even having trouble trying to pay it.

It will be interesting to see if Lee has his sentenced reduced for facilitating a vaccine deal that now shields the Moon administration from the heavy criticism they had been receiving:

After South Korea closed a deal with Pfizer to obtain additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, Samsung Electronics’ de facto chief, Lee Jae-yong, is receiving much attention in local media for his reported role in facilitating talks between the two sides. 

Seoul announced Friday that it had secured enough additional vaccine for 20 million people in a deal that soothed public worries over a shortage. Adding to those worries were the reported side effects associated with the AstraZeneca jabs — the mainstay of the country’s inoculation campaign. 

According to the DongA Ilbo and multiple other media outlets, the vice chairman of Samsung, in prison since January for bribing former President Park Geun-hye, acted as a bridge between the Korean government and Pfizer. 

While the Moon Jae-in government had no channels with the top leadership of the US vaccine developer until early December, Lee used his personal network and sought the help of Shantanu Narayen, chairman of the US computer software company Adobe, who was an independent director of Pfizer. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but for those that have followed Lee Jae-yong’s legal issues he was essentially jailed because he was caught in the middle of the political battles between the Korean left and right. He was jailed because it was alleged that former President Park made demands to Lee that Samsung give money to a sport agency to sponsor her friend’s daughter’s Olympic equestrian training.  In return the Park administration was alleged to have smothered over Lee’s acquisition of Samsung from his then ailing father.

I have no idea if Lee is guilty of what he is accused of, but what I do know is that Korea is a rule by law nation instead of a rule of law nation. If powers that be want him guilty they can make it happen. The same powers that be can find a way to get him released as well. We will see if that happens in the coming months because I doubt they will announce it right after this vaccine deal.