Samsung's controlling family and top executives will hold a series of memorial events marking the sixth anniversary of the death of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Samsung Electronics (005930) Chairman Jay Y. Lee is expected to visit the family burial ground in Suwon with the group's chief executives and to attend a commemorative concert in Yongin.
Samsung will hold the sixth-anniversary memorial service on the 23rd at the family burial ground in Imok-dong, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, two days ahead of the Oct. 25 anniversary of the late chairman's death, according to business sources on the 18th. The service will be attended by Chairman Lee and Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, along with other family members and the chief executives of Samsung's main affiliates.
The service is expected to proceed without a separate formal ceremony, instead honoring the late chairman's achievements and management philosophy. Chairman Lee and the chief executives are expected to have lunch together afterward at the Changjo Building of the Samsung Human Resources Development Center in Yongin. The building, a training facility for Samsung's new hires, houses a bust of the late chairman.
Attention is also focused on what message Chairman Lee will deliver to executives at the service. In 2022, when he was vice chairman, Lee met with the chief executives after the memorial service and said, "Now is the time to be bolder and more daring," adding, "The harder and more difficult the times, the more we must prepare ahead and build up our capabilities."
On the 28th, a commemorative concert honoring the late chairman will be held at the concert hall of the Samsung Human Resources Development Center. World-renowned musicians will take the stage. Last year's performances featured pianist Park Jae-hong, cellist Han Jae-min and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Chairman Lee, Hong, Hotel Shilla President Lee Boo-jin and Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun are expected to attend this year's concert along with other family members and Samsung's top executives. Ahead of the concert, Chairman Lee is expected to encourage newly appointed executives and high-performing employees and to have dinner with the management team.
The late chairman took over as the group's second chairman in 1987, succeeding Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull. In 1993, he announced his New Management initiative in Frankfurt, Germany, declaring, "Change everything except your wife and children," and led an overhaul centered on quality. After building Samsung into a global company, he collapsed from a heart attack in May 2014 and died on Oct. 25, 2020, at the age of 78 following years of illness.
