Cast of Characters
I. THE KOREANS*
Chairman Lee Byung-chul (B.C. Lee, also known as Chairman Lee I) (1910–
1987). Founder and first chairman of the Samsung Group, from 1938 until
his death in October 1987.
Chairman Lee Kun-hee (K.H. Lee, also referred to as Chairman Lee II) (b.
1942). Son of B.C. Lee and second chairman of the Samsung Group, from
1987 to the present, who transformed Samsung into a global nameplate
brand. He suffered a heart attack in May 2014 and has not been seen in
public since.
Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (Jay Y. Lee, tapped to become Chairman Lee
III) (b. 1968). Son of K.H. Lee and heir apparent to the Samsung empire,
he was sentenced to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement.
Released early from prison on appeal, a panel of judges upheld but
lessened the extent of his bribery conviction. He awaits retrial after
Korea’s Supreme Court voided his second ruling, and may be sent back to
prison with possibly expanded charges.
Lee Maeng-hee (1931–2015). Oldest brother among B.C. Lee’s three sons. He
was the favored heir to the Samsung Group before he resigned in 1969,
accused by his father of mismanagement.
Lee Mie-kyung (Miky Lee). Daughter of Lee Maeng-hee, niece of Samsung
chairman Lee Kun-hee, and Samsung’s emissary to the U.S. entertainment
and design industries before leaving to start her own production house, CJ
Entertainment, in a partnership with DreamWorks.
Hong Jin-ki (1917–1986). Samsung founder B.C. Lee’s political ally and
former head of Samsung’s JoongAng newspaper. His family forged an
alliance with Samsung’s founding Lee family. His daughter Hong Ra-hee
married Samsung chairman K.H. Lee.
President Park Chung-hee (1917–1979). Dictator of South Korea starting with
his military coup d’état in 1961 and ending with his assassination in 1979.
He laid the economic and political foundation for the Korean economic