故 이건희 회장 장례 사흘째...정치•경제•예술•체육 각계 조문 행렬
Mourning continues for the late chairman of South Korea's Samsung Group, Lee Kun-hee, who died on Sunday at the age of 78 after suffering from a long illness.
Influential figures from various sectors came to pay their respects on the third day of his funeral.
Kim Jae-hee has more.
Major players from business, politics and sport visited Samsung Medical Center in Southern Seoul on Tuesday to pay their respects to the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee.
LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, LS Group Chairman Koo Ja-yeol, and Hyundai Card CEO Chung Tae-young all visited the funeral hall on Tuesday morning.
"He was a great businessman who developed the nation's high-tech industry."
South Korea’s Minister of SMEs and Startups, Park Young-sun visited in the afternoon, and said Lee made an insightful choice thirty years ago to make semiconductors a driving source of South Korea’s economy.
Well-known sporting figures, including the Head of the South Korean Olympic committee, Lee Kee-heung, also showed up to pay their respects to Lee, who had previously served as president of the Korea Wrestling Federation and was a member of the International Olympic Committee.
Violinist Chung Kyung-wha and pianist Cho Seong-jin also visited the hospital, as did the Hungarian, German and Vietnamese ambassadors to South Korea.
Following the wishes of Lee and his family, the funeral is being kept small, and the number of visitors is being limited amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The four-day funeral will end with Lee's burial on Wednesday.
His body is likely to be put to rest in either Yongin, where the graves of his parents are, or Suwon, where his ancestors are buried.
With Lee Kun-hee's death, focus turns to the succession of his son, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who's been heading the company's management since 2014, when his father collapsed from a heart attack.
Investors are speculating over when Lee Jae-yong will officially take the chief position, and are closely watching the issue of inheritance.
Lee Kun-hee was the wealthiest stock owner in the country, with around 16 billion U.S. dollars of shares.
It would cost a record high inheritance tax of about nine billion dollars to inherit all his assets.
Industry watchers suspect Samsung could announce measures to increase shareholders' dividend payouts to pay the inheritance tax.
Samsung shares rose on Monday under hopes of higher dividends and long-awaited restructuring but several shares fell again slightly on Tuesday.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.