[Edaily Reporter SOYEON KIM ] The heads of major domestic conglomerates are set to engage in global business operations 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 set to review 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 in recent years. It is reported that he is highly likely to embark on an overseas business trip again this year. 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.

Chairman Lee will attend the “Korea Society Gala Dinner” to be held in New York, U.S., on the 28th. SK Chairman Chey Tae-won is also expected to travel to the U.S. after completing his schedule accompanying President Lee Jae-myung on his state visit to Mexico to attend the event.

At this event, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, will receive the “Van Fleet Award” in recognition of his contributions to the development of cooperation and relations between South Korea and the United States. With Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Chairman Chey Tae-won both attending the event, attention is focused on whether a meeting between the leaders of major companies driving the global AI industry will take place if CEO Jensen Huang also joins them.

Following the event, the two chairmen are expected to meet successively with executives from major U.S. tech companies to explore opportunities for AI-related collaboration.

After concluding his U.S. itinerary, Chairman Lee is also scheduled to travel to London, England, later this year. Ahead of the opening of a special exhibition on Korea at the British Museum starting on the 1st of next month, Chairman Lee is expected to attend a gala dinner commemorating the overseas touring exhibition of the Lee Kun-Hee Collection.

The “Lee Kun-Hee Collection,” donated to the state 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—all attended the Lee Kun-Hee Collection gala event held in Washington, D.C. The event commemorated the successful conclusion of the collection’s first overseas tour and was attended by approximately 270 people, including figures from U.S. political, government, business, and cultural circles.

In addition, there is speculation that Chairman Lee will use his business trip to Europe as an opportunity not only to review European operations but also to hold meetings with key leaders in the AI industry, including Mistral AI, in which the company recently made an equity investment.

Recently, SamsungElectronics led a Series D investment round in Mistral AI, a French company often referred to as Europe’s OpenAI, and signed a strategic partnership with the firm. The two companies have agreed to jointly develop a “semiconductor-specific AI” model that combines semiconductor technology and manufacturing data from SamsungElectronics’ Device Solutions (DS) division with Mistral AI’s highly efficient AI models to enhance productivity and precision across the entire semiconductor manufacturing process.

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

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and LG Corp. Chairman Koo Kwang-mo are scheduled 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. At the forum, participants plan to explore ways to cooperate on institutional support measures to bolster the local operations of Korean companies operating in Mexico.

Mexico serves as a North American production hub and is one of the regions where South Korean companies have established a presence to build production facilities for export. 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 TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and other home appliances to meet demand for exports to North America. HyundaiMotor Group is engaged in the production and sale of finished vehicles through HyundaiMotor, KIA CORPORATION, and HyundaiMobis. Korean companies have established production bases in Mexico specifically to export manufactured goods to the United States.

It is speculated that Chairman Koo may review the current status of LGELECTRONICS, LG Innotek, and other affiliates’ operations in Mexico and tour the facilities. He also plans to work with local leaders to strengthen the company’s global network. 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 affiliates to expand the business into AI data centers and physical AI. He is meeting with key CEOs of global Big Tech companies to broaden the scope of cooperation and further 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 chairman of the APEC CEO Summit, Chairman Choi delivered a keynote speech sharing Korea’s vision and efforts to foster an 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 remain in the country to focus on establishing business directions for next year’s strategic planning.