[Edaily Reporter SOYEON KIM ] The heads of major South Korean conglomerates are continuing their global business activities even during this year’s Chuseok holiday. Led by SamsungElectronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee—who has consistently visited overseas operations during every holiday to oversee global business—the heads of major conglomerates are once again reviewing their global operations and networks this Chuseok.

◇ JY Continues His Global Management Initiatives

According to business circles on the 25th, SamsungElectronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee has continued his global management initiatives by visiting overseas business sites during holiday breaks over the past few years. It is reported that he is highly likely to embark on an overseas business trip this year as well. The purpose is to meet and encourage employees working away from their families at overseas locations, while also personally overseeing local operations.

During the 2024 Chuseok holiday, he traveled to Europe to attend the closing ceremony of the WorldSkills Competition in Lyon, France, where he encouraged skilled workers, and visited SamsungElectronics stores and manufacturing plants in Poland. During the Lunar New Year holiday that same year, he visited the SAMSUNG SDI CO.,LTD. battery plant in Malaysia to review business operations. During the 2023 Chuseok holiday, he traveled to the Middle East—including Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt—to inspect local operations and encourage employees.

A trip to London, UK, is also scheduled for this year. Chairman Lee is expected to attend a gala event commemorating the overseas touring exhibition of the Lee Kun-Hee Collection ahead of the opening of a special exhibition on Korea at the British Museum, which begins on the 1st of next month.

The “Lee Kun-Hee Collection,” donated to the nation by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-Hee and his family, will be on display at the British Museum in London from October 1 through January 31 of next year. This marks the third overseas exhibition, following last year’s show at the National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., and this year’s exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. The overseas tour of the Lee Kun-Hee Collection will conclude with the London exhibition.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Chairman Lee and other members of the Samsung family are scheduled to attend a gala event in London. This marks a direct effort by the Samsung family to promote Korea’s cultural heritage on the global stage, going beyond mere sponsorship of the exhibition. Earlier this past January, the Samsung family—including Chairman Lee, Hong Ra-hee, Honorary Director of the Leeum Museum of Art; Lee Boo-jin, President and CEO of HotelShilla; and Lee Seo-hyun, President of SAMSUNG C&T CORPORATION—made a full appearance at the Lee Kun-Hee Collection gala event held in Washington, D.C. The event commemorated the successful launch of the first overseas touring exhibition and was attended by approximately 270 guests, including figures from U.S. political, government, business, and cultural circles.

◇ Chairmen Chey Tae-won and Koo Kwang-mo to Accompany President Lee Jae-myung on Mexico Visit

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and LG Corp. Chairman Koo Kwang-mo are set to accompany President Lee Jae-myung on his state visit to Mexico and attend the Korea-Mexico Business Forum being held there. The Korea-Mexico Business Forum, taking place today (local time) at the World Trade Center (WTC) in Mexico City, is hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

It is reported that SamsungElectronics CEO Roh Tae-moon, KIA CORPORATION President Song Ho-sung, and Doosan Bobcat Vice Chairman Park Sung-chul will also attend the business forum. The forum is expected to explore ways to cooperate on institutional support to bolster the local operations of Korean companies operating in Mexico.

Mexico is a key North American production hub and one of the regions where South Korean companies have established production facilities to facilitate exports. According to the Korea CXO Research Institute, a firm specializing in corporate analysis, as of 2025, 25 major conglomerates are operating 91 local subsidiaries in Mexico. Samsung Group was found to have 18 overseas subsidiaries in Mexico, while HyundaiMotor Group has 16.

SamsungElectronics has established TV and home appliance production bases in Tijuana and Querétaro. LGELECTRONICS has also set up factories in Reynosa and Monterrey to produce home appliances such as TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines to support exports to North America. Hyundai Motor Group is engaged in the production and sale of finished vehicles through HyundaiMotor, KIA CORPORATION, and HyundaiMobis. Korean companies have concentrated their presence at production bases in Mexico specifically to export manufactured goods to the United States.

It is also speculated that Chairman Koo may tour the LGELECTRONICS facility in Mexico. On the 21st (local time), Chairman Koo visited Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, where he held a Top Management Meeting (TMM) with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other top executives and signed a strategic partnership agreement.

Chairman Koo is working tirelessly to consolidate the manufacturing, battery, automotive electronics, robotics, and IT capabilities accumulated by major subsidiaries to expand the business into AI data centers and physical AI. He is meeting with CEOs of major global tech companies to broaden the scope of cooperation and solidify the “One LG Corp.” strategy.

Last year during the Chuseok holiday, Chairman Choi was fully occupied with preparations for the APEC CEO Summit, an official side event of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. As the chair of the APEC CEO Summit, Chairman Choi delivered a keynote speech in which he shared his vision for building South Korea’s AI ecosystem.

It is reported that Euisun Chung, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, will remain in South Korea during the Chuseok holiday to review key issues facing the group. Major affiliates of the group, including HyundaiMotor and KIA CORPORATION, are now at the stage where they must assess their progress toward achieving the performance targets set at the beginning of the year. He is expected to stay in the country to focus on establishing business directions for next year’s plans.