Lee Jee Ho

Born in the U.S., 26-year-old Lee Jee Ho previously held dual South Korean and U.S. citizenship, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. He graduated from high school in Canada before enrolling at Sciences Po in Paris, France, and was later reported to return to the U.S. as an exchange student.

Lee Jee Ho has largely kept a low public profile, but drew attention in September last year when Samsung Electronics announced that he had renounced his U.S. citizenship and enlisted as an officer candidate in the South Korean military, The Korea Times reported.

He was commissioned on Dec. 1, 2025, after completing training at the Republic of Korea Naval Academy, and is now serving as an interpretation officer with the South Korean Navy’s Mine-Amphibious Flotilla Five. The unit operates directly under Fleet Command and plays a key role in naval mine warfare and amphibious operations. In his role, Lee provides interpretation during joint operations with foreign forces and translates intelligence- materials.

He is scheduled to complete his mandatory service on Nov. 30, 2028.

This marks the first time a member of the Samsung founding family has served as a commissioned military officer. Lee Jae Yong and most other male descendants of Samsung founder Lee Byung Chul were exempted from military service for medical or other reasons.

The Chosun Daily reported that following Lee Jee Ho’s commissioning, his personal motto was revealed as: “Humans cannot evolve without pain, so enjoy it,” a message that was widely praised online.

Lee Won Ju

Like her brother, 22-year-old Lee Won Ju maintains a private life away from the public eye.

Publicly available information indicates that she was born in New York City and was scheduled to attend Colorado College in the U.S. beginning in the fall of 2022.

She made headlines in February last year when she appeared as an intern at the Simmons Center for Global Chicago, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, under the English name Madison Lee. In her self-introduction, she wrote that she was a second-year student at the University of Chicago majoring in data science.

“I always try my best to positively impact whatever society and community I belong to or reside in. I have assisted with local community service groups near my high school campus and within campus,” she wrote. “I am excited to be working at Simmons Center for Global Chicago.”

According to ReutersLee Jae Yong said at a news conference in Seoul in May 2020 that he did not plan to hand Samsung over to his children.

“I do not plan to pass down my role to my children,” he said at the time. “This is something I have thought about for a long time but have been hesitant to express it openly.”

The remarks came after South Korea’s Supreme Court overturned an appellate court ruling in a high-profile bribery case involving Lee. He was charged in 2017 with bribing an associate of former South Korean President Park Geun Hye to “win government favor over a deal widely seen as key to succession planning at the conglomerate.” He served one year in detention and was released in 2018 after an appellate court reduced a lower court’s five-year sentence by half and suspended it for three years. That ruling was later overturned.

Lee Jae Yong, 58, is the grandson of Samsung founder Lee Byung Chul, who established the company in 1938. As of 2025, Forbes ranked Lee Jae Yong as South Korea’s second-richest individual, with an estimated net worth of US$17.8 billion as of Jan. 16.

He was married to 49-year-old Lim, vice chairwoman of South Korean food conglomerate Daesang Group, from 1998 to 2009.