April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Group will not hold an event to celebrate its 80th anniversary on March 22 to keep a low profile amid the ongoing trial of its de facto chief and Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, according industry sources on March 19.

Instead, Samsung plans to run a corporate social responsibility program for a month.

“There won’t be any festivities this year,” said a Samsung official, declining to be identified. “The vice chairman also won’t be making any public appearances for the time being, since the trial is still on.”

The Samsung heir spent a year in prison until February this year for his alleged involvement in the so-called “Choi Soon-sil Scandal.” Lee was freed on Feb. 5 after a Seoul appeals court handed down a 2 1/2-year suspended sentence. The vice chairman, however, is still facing a trial at the Supreme Court.

Korea’s largest conglomerate started as Samsung Sanghoe, a trading company and a predecessor of trading and construction firm Samsung C&T, which late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul established in Daegu on March 1 1938.

The conglomerate began to commemorate its foundation on March 22 since the founder’s third son Lee Kun-hee -- who was hospitalized after a heart attack in 2014 -- announced the so-called “second foundation,” to mark the 50th anniversary of the business group in 1988.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)