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Samsung family completes record inheritance tax payment of 12 trillion won

Published: 04 May. 2026, 11:16 Updated: 04 May. 2026, 22:12

Samsung Electronics headquarters in Seocho District, southern Seoul [NEWS1]

The Samsung Group family has completed payment of 12 trillion won ($8.15 billion) in inheritance tax on the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee's estate, valued at approximately 26 trillion won — the largest single inheritance tax payment in Korean history and among the largest ever recorded globally.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Honorary Director of Leeum Museum of Art and widow of the late Samsung Group chairman Hong Ra-hee, Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin and Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun paid the tax in six installments through deferred payments from 2021, completing the final payment this year, Samsung Electronics said on Sunday.

The Samsung Group is Korea's largest chaebol, or family-owned conglomerate, founded in 1938.

The family's inherited assets included stakes in affiliates such as Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T, as well as real estate. The five-year inheritance process that began following Lee Kun-hee's death in 2020 has now effectively concluded.

Alongside the tax payments, the family has also carried out a series of philanthropic initiatives, including a 1 trillion won donation in 2021 for infectious disease response and support for children with cancer and rare diseases. Of that, 700 billion won is being used to build a national infectious disease hospital — a 150-bed facility planned for completion in 2030 in Jung District, central Seoul. Seoul National University Hospital has also used the funds to establish a pediatric cancer and rare disease support program in 2021, which has reportedly benefited a cumulative 28,000 people over five years.

In 2021, the family also donated more than 23,000 artworks, including national treasures and designated cultural properties valued at approximately 3 trillion won based on appraisal.

Artworks from the Lee Kun-hee Collection is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago on March 7. [NEWS1]

Known as the "Lee Kun-hee collection," the works have been credited with raising the profile of Korean culture at home and abroad. Thirty-five domestic touring exhibitions held between 2021 and 2024 drew a cumulative audience of 3.5 million. The collection's first overseas exhibition opened at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington in November, with a closing gala held on Jan. 28 attended by the family and around 250 figures from U.S. politics and business. The collection is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago through July, and is slated to be exhibited in London as well.

Some view the family's five-year record of tax payments combined with donations as a new model of social contribution. Others have raised concerns about the burden of inheritance tax on business management.

"The current inheritance tax rate can place a strain on corporate governance stability and long-term investment," said Cho Dong-keun, emeritus professor of economics at Myongji University. "The rate should be lowered to the level of other OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] countries and payment deferred in cases of business succession."

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK YOUNG-WOO [[email protected]]