headline and text into English.the first pure-breeding: Lee, Lee Kun-hee Essays, pp. 189–90.
“After returning to Korea”: Ibid., p. 189.
more than one high-profile crash: Henry Cho, interview by the author, March 25,
- Some of these crashes were reported in Korean newspapers in the
1980s; in the author’s possession. Henry Cho said that Chairman Lee
“wrecked my mother’s car.”
“Driving at 200 mph”: Nakarmi and Neff, “Samsung’s Radical Shakeup.”
“A very interesting man”: Henry Cho, interview by the author, March 25, 2016.
“Several years ago I walked”: Lee, Lee Kun-hee Essays, p. 42.
The chairman denied tales: “Lee Kun-hee Samsung Group Chairman ‘Aiming for
the Top, a Time for Sweeping Change,’ ” Dong-A Ilbo, August 4, 1993,
https://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.nhn?
articleId=1993080400209105001. This source is in Korean. The author’s
researcher translated the title and the quoted text into English. In this article,
the chairman denies being addicted to drugs. Other articles, in the author’s
possession, have the chairman on record denying other rumors.
claimed he had gotten a vasectomy: Kang, Lee Kun-hee Era.
“He was on drugs”: Henry Cho, interview by the author, March 25, 2016. Rumors
about Chairman Lee’s drug addiction have most recently been reported at Kim
Hyun-il, “A Summary of Chaebol Family Fueds Based on Stockpiled X-
Files,” Sisa Journal. August 12, 2015, http://www.sisajournal.com/news/
articleView.html?idxno=142177.
a drug dealer who set up: Kim Yong-chul, Thinking of Samsung (Seoul: Social
Commentary, 2010), p. 254. This source is in Korean. The author’s researcher
translated the title and the quoted text into English.
while he proceeds to pay: “Allegations of Prostitution by Samsung’s Lee Kun-hee...
Is the Company Involved?” Newstapa, July 21, 2016. English subtitles
available at https://news.kcij.org/42.
In April 2018, three people: Yeo Hyun-ho, “Group Who Extorted 900 Million Won
with ‘Lee Kun-hee Prostitution Allegations Video’ Given Prison Sentences,”
Hankyoreh, April 12, 2018, http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/
society_general/840278.html. This source is in Korean. The author’s
researcher translated the title and the quoted text into English.
“I always heard”: Kim Kyung-rae, interview by the author, July 8, 2016.
“He didn’t come really”: Hwang Young-key, interview by the author, June 5, 2014.
More information on Chairman Lee’s quiet early years as Samsung’s new
leader can be found in Kim Sung-hong and Woo In-ho, “Do They Need a
Higher Authority Than Chairman?” The Korea Herald, June 3, 2003. “In his
early days as Samsung Group chairman,” the authors write, “Lee left virtually