CJ Group Chairman Lee, Jae-hyun attends a meeting with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Bin Zayed Al Nahayan at a hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, on May 28, 2018.[Yonhap]
[BizCheck=Hong Sun-ki Reporter] CJ Chairman Lee, Jae-hyun (64) is attracting attention from the business community for his close relationship with a female Buddhist monk who personally officiates at family ceremonies.
The abbot of Temple D in Jinju, Gyeongnam, who is in her 60s, presides over ceremonies on the anniversaries of Lee's family members and performs various rituals for the chairman whenever necessary, such as the Buddhist New Year and the winter solstice. Chairman Lee Jae-hyun, the eldest grandson of Samsung's founder, the late Chairman Lee Byung-chul, has been practicing Buddhist rituals in his family.
The monk who performs these rituals is said to have maintained a close relationship with CJ Chairman Lee Jae-hyun's family since July 2013, when he was imprisoned for three years on charges of tax evasion and non-financing.
At the time of his imprisonment, Lee was in the worst condition as he was in the late stages of chronic kidney failure and suffered from a rare and incurable disease known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. Shortly after his imprisonment, he developed uremia, a condition in which the kidneys fail to filter waste properly, and eventually underwent surgery to receive a kidney transplant from his wife, Kim Hee-jae.
Unfortunately, Lee's father, CJ Group Chairman Emeritus Lee Meng-hee, passed away from cancer in August 2015 while serving his sentence.
Even after Lee was released from prison, the bhikkuni monk is known to have been so devoted to Lee's mother, the late Mrs. Son Bok-nam (who passed away in November 2022), that when she fell ill with severe gout, he nursed her back to health by collecting her feces by hand.
Chairman Lee Jae-hyun was so impressed by his care that he reportedly entrusted the monk with important tasks, giving him a certain amount of Geum Il-bong every time there was a major family event.
The monk is also said to have officiated at the memorial service for CJ Group Chairman Lee Meng-hee, who passed away from cancer in August 2015, at Seonsan Mountain in Yeosu, Gyeonggi-do, and at a ceremony attended by family members at CJ Talent Center in Pil-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul.
As these ceremonies are attended by family members and key group executives, including Chairman Lee Jae-hyun, Chairman Son Kyung-shik, Vice Chairman Lee Myung-kyung, CJ ENM Executive Vice President Lee Kyung-hoo, and CJ CheilJedang Executive Vice President Lee Sun-ho, these figures are said to have greeted and gotten to know the monk.
“The monk (real family name Choi), who is from Chungcheongbuk-do and speaks with a Gyeongsangbuk-do accent, has a fiery personality with a cross-dressing style,” said one person familiar with CJ's internal affairs.
R Beach Resort in Boracay, Philippines, which CJ Chairman Lee, Jae-hyun reportedly personally invested in and then sold [Homepages caption]
Meanwhile, CJ Chairman Lee,Jae-hyun reportedly entrusted the bhikkuni monk to act as his personal butler during transactions such as the purchase and sale of the R Beach Resort (3-star) in Boracay, Philippines. Lee Jae-hyun reportedly bought the resort before the outbreak with his personal investment, not company funds, and then sold it at a loss within five years after the outbreak, when sales plummeted and he was burdened with management costs.
During this process, rumors have been circulating that a monk made a loan on behalf of the chairman.
In response, a CJ Group official denied the allegations, saying, “Everything about the real estate and family rituals is obviously false.”
However, domestic assessment and taxation authorities are reported to have received intelligence on Lee's real estate transactions in the Philippines and are investigating whether the transactions complied with foreign exchange laws.
By Hong Sun-ki imagine1@hanmail.net
저작권자 ⓒ 비즈체크, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지