[NewsSpace=JeongYoung Kim]  Lee Jae-yong, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, is celebrating his 55th birthday in Vietnam on the 23rd.  In 2020 and 2021, he marked his birthday  in confinement and in 2022, he returned from an 11-night, 12-day business trip in Europe and made a court appearance . This year, special attention is being drawn to his local business ventures in Vietnam.

Turning 55 years old this year, he went on a business trip to Paris on the 18th to engage in support activities for hosting the "2030 Busan World Expo" by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). 

After completing a 2-night, 3-day trip, he moved to Hanoi, Vietnam on the 22nd and joined an economic delegation for three days. Chairman Lee was accompanied by other business leaders such as SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-Won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-Sun, and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-Mo during this trip.

Samsung has been actively supporting major sports events, exhibitions, and diplomatic endeavors. When bidding for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, former Chairman Lee Kun-hee risked the group's future strategy office to support the Olympics bid. Chairman Lee Jae-yong has followed in his footsteps.

After being granted a special pardon last year, Chairman Lee was appointed as a special envoy for support in the bid to host the "2030 Busan World Expo" in September of the same year. Subsequently, in order to secure support for the expo, he personally met with the presidents of Mexico and Panama and appealed for support from the Dutch Prime Minister. During his visit to Vietnam in June of last year, Chairman Lee had already examined the smartphone and display production facilities and reviewed the business strategy.

Samsung Electronics operates smartphone factories in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces in Vietnam, as well as home appliance production lines in Ho Chi Minh City. In Hanoi, which he is visiting this time, there is a 5G and artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) center that was inaugurated in December last year. Chairman Lee is expected to visit these Vietnamese production bases, encourage on-site employees, and emphasize overcoming the crisis.

Even during his last birthday, Chairman Lee focused on on-site management in Europe. At that time, during an 11-night, 12-day business trip, he visited the Netherlands, Belgium, Hungary, and met with key partners of Samsung Electronics such as battery factories, BMW, and ASML.

While Chairman Lee is expanding his support for international events and business ventures, the unresolved legal risks act as shackles. After completing his European business trip last year, he attended a court hearing at the Seoul Central District Court on his birthday. Currently, he attends the trial on the Samsung C&T-First Textile unfair merger suspicion every Thursday, and the trial on the Samsung Biologics accounting irregularities every three weeks on Fridays.

Due to the unresolved legal risks, his return as a registered director is not easy. Since his promotion to chairman in October last year, he has maintained his status as an unregistered executive. In 2019, he also relinquished the decision to remain as an inside director considering the legal risks.