Source: Global People Magazine
Experience as an officer,
Strengthen the ability of chaebol heirs
The image of leadership.”
Author: The Ice
On the morning of September 23, local time, a ceremony was held in a military school in South Korea. Although only military personnel were present, it attracted the attention of all of South Korea. Because South Korea's Samsung Electronics chairman, Li, the eldest son of Li, officially joined the army on this day.
Samsung Electronics is the largest company in South Korea, and its largest subsidiary, Samsung Electronics, has been described as five things that South Koreans can’t avoid in their lifetime: getting old and dying and Samsung.
He is the fourth core figure of his family.HaoEspecially in the focus of lighting.
The “Duty of the Noble”
According toKorean media reported that Li ZhiHaoThis time he was admitted as a candidate officer of the Korean Navy.He will be undergoing 11 weeks of systemic training with 83 fighters, including combat swimming, naval troops training, shooting, biochemical protection and basic guerrilla tactics.After the training, they will formally become naval officers and enter the service unit to continue to serve for about 36 months.HaoHe will serve as a translator in the service unit.
In South Korea, adult men are required to serve in the military for 18 to 21 months. South Korean media have pointed out that for a long time, some wealthy children and children of politicians have often fled military service for reasons such as health problems, study, and even exploited system gaps to shorten service time.
Li isHaoLi Jianxi, his grandfather and former president of Samsung, was exempted from service with the diagnosis of "myocardial infarction", and his father, Lee Jae-yong, also avoided military camp life because of intervertebral disc herniation.
Lee Ji-ho, who was born in the United States, has dual American and Korean citizenship. According to relevant regulations, he could have chosen to serve in the ordinary army and continue to retain American citizenship. But in order to fulfill his military service obligations as a naval officer, he voluntarily renounced his U.S. citizenship-the position of Korean officer can only be held by someone with a single Korean nationality.
South Korean media revealed that he chose to join the army both out of personal will and after listening to his father's advice. The naval officer service he chose was longer than ordinary soldiers.
It is worth mentioning that in recent years, people like Li ZhiHaoThe future generations of financial valves who choose to serve in this way are no longer the only ones.
Choi Min-jong, the second daughter of Choi Tae-won, chairman of South Korea's SK Group, passed strict selection and became a second lieutenant in 2014, although she was a woman and did not need to serve. The following year,She carried out a six-month escort mission on a South Korean destroyer,Later, he served in the Second Fleet Command of the South Korean Navy until retiring with the rank of lieutenant in 2017.
Kim Dong-kwan, vice president of Hanwha Group, joined the army as an officer of the South Korean Air Force in 2006 and worked as a translator in the army. In 2009, then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates held talks with then-South Korean Prime Minister Chung Yun Chan, and Kim Dong-kwan translated for them.
In South Korean society, the phenomenon of military service by descendants of chaebol is called "aristocratic duty." Huang Yongzhi, a professor at the School of Economics and Business at Sejong University, analyzed: "When the heirs of the chaebol serve transparently in the military, it can effectively offset the public's negative views on them. Especially the experience of serving as an officer can strengthen their leadership image."
"Hidden Crown Prince"
Li Zhihao was born in 2000 in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, USA. His birth is actually the product of the marriage of the two major chaebol in South Korea.
In the 1990s, Samsung planned to enter the food industry. At the time, South Korea’s largest food company was Elephant Group. Later, Li Jinxi’s wife, Hongroeh, contacted Elephant Group’s chairwoman, Ms. Park Wei Yue. Under the arrangement of the two families, Li met with Lin Liang, the eldest daughter of Park Wei Yue. In 1998, the two held a wedding at the Samsung Gallery.
Shortly after marriage, Lee Jae-yong went to the United States to study for a doctorateLin Shiling accompanied him to read.In 2000, she gave birth to Li Chishui, and four years later she had a daughter, Li Yuan Pearl.
At this time, after completing his doctoral studies, Li, under family arrangements, returned to Korea to get acquainted with the group's business, and Lin Sheng also returned to the country.It is written for this marriage.
In 2006, the Elephant Group was investigated for the illegal abuse of funds by Samsung; at the end of 2008, under the shock of the financial crisis, it was forced to sell a large number of shares.
In February 2009, Lin Shiling filed a divorce lawsuit with the court, and the two parties quickly reached an agreement. According to South Korean media speculation, Lin Shiling received about 100 billion won in property during the divorce. Custody of the two children is shared by both parties.
Although his parents have been separated, Li Zhihao, who has been regarded as the fourth generation successor of Samsung since birth, has had high hopes since childhood.
However,by LeeWhen studying, because ofAn admissions scandal has attracted public attention. In 3,Li is about to graduate from South Korea's Yongzhu International Primary School, but has failed to go to high school because of the bottom of the scores. Li sent him to high school through the "social care object" position.
According to Korean media, the quota of "social care objects" was originally for children of divorced families who were really poor, while Li Zhihao's family background obviously did not meet the conditions. After this incident was exposed by the media, it triggered a public opinion storm about "chaebol abusing social welfare" in South Korea, and Li Zhihao had to drop out of school.
After falling into the scandal, Li was unable to continue studying in South Korea and was sent abroad.OfThe road to study has always been turbulent.
In the United StatesWhen he was studying at Rosemary Middle School, he was ordered to drop out of school on suspicion of smoking contraband and violating school rules. After that, he transferred to a private middle school in Toronto, Canada. In college, he studied in the double-degree program of Columbia University in the United States and Paris School of Political Science in France, but he still hasn't graduated after many years.
In sharp contrast to my brother, my sister Li Yuanzhu's growth path has always been in line with the family plan.Li Yuan Pearl has studied ballet at the Korean National Ballet Dance School since childhood and has an outstanding temperament. In academic aspects, she attended Longshan International School in Korea and Colorado College in the United States.Currently studying data science at the University of Chicago.。
In 2022, the daughter of Zheng Yixuan, president of Hyundai Motor Group of South Korea, held a wedding ceremony. Li Yuanzhu specially rushed back from the United States to attend with his father Li Zairong. The black dress she was wearing was once on the Internet.
On weekdays, Li Yuanzhu often shares her study abroad life on social media. Last year, she also publicly joined an international non-governmental organization as an intern.
Compared with his sister's active nature, Li Zhihao rarely appears in public. As a result, he was regarded by the outside world as a quiet and low-key "reclusive Crown Prince."
The last time he officially appeared in front of media cameras was at Lee Jianxi's funeral in 2020. During the epidemic, Li Zhihao wore a mask to cover most of his face, but his appearance similar to his parents still attracted people's attention.
The first step of succession?
Although Li Zhihao rarely appears in public, a person familiar with Samsung's situation once revealed: "Li Zhihao unexpectedly became the focus of public opinion when he was in school, which made him develop a worried character. If there is an opportunity in the future, I believe he will show his true self in public."
This time his high-profile enlistment was obviously an important public appearance. Some analysts pointed out that young members of these chaebol families choose to perform military service not only to show their sense of social responsibility and prove their ability to be business leaders, but also to improve the public's negative impression of them.
Just as the public was hotly discussing his decision to serve, photos of Lee Ji-ho wearing a military uniform began to spread on the South Korean Internet. Many South Korean netizens found that his appearance was quite similar to his grandfather Lee Kun-hee.
When Lee Kun-hee died, a survey by South Korean polling agency Realmeter showed that more than 80% of South Koreans recognized him. Li Zhihao is similar to his grandfather,It seemed to degrade him too.In this regard, there is a view that this may be a plan by Samsung to recreate the image of future successors, and the entry into the army is just the first step in this plan.
However, as early as 2020, when Li was imprisoned for his involvement in the case of former president Park Geun-hye, he had said at the after-prison apology meeting that he would not "deliver Samsung's business rights to children". but at the time many South Korean business analysts pointed out that this was only a verbal promise to calm public emotions, lack of legal binding.
In fact, Samsung Group is indeed an out-and-out family business. After the death of Samsung's first-generation founder, Li Bingzhe, in 1987, his third son, Li Jianxi, took over the group. At present, the actual controller of Samsung is Lee Jae-yong.
According to public information, Lee is inWhen his father became ill in 2014, he began to lead the group’s major decisions and key investments.He officially served as Samsung Electronics chairman in 2022.In addition, he acquired large shares in the core subsidiary of the Samsung Group by inheriting his father’s legacy.In September this year, the rise in the company’s share price raised his net assets to $4.7 trillion, placing him at the top of the South Korean wealthy list.
On South Korean social platforms, many netizens believe that Samsung Group should get rid of the family business model and introduce professional managers for professional management. However, for this huge business empire, family inheritance is a deep-rooted tradition, and it may not be easy to change this pattern.