Lee Jae-yong concludes his Europe trip: ‘Spring has come’

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong bid farewell to reporters with the words "Spring has come" as he departed from the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center around 7:30 a.m. on Friday, marking the end of his business trip to Europe. With Samsung Electronics recording an operating profit of nearly 2 trillion won in the semiconductor division in the first quarter, marking a profit for the first time in five quarters, Chairman Lee's remarks garnered attention. However, he refrained from providing specific answers to reporters' inquiries regarding his impressions of the trip and its accomplishments.

During his 10-day business itinerary across Germany, Italy, and France, which commenced on April 23, Chairman Lee engaged in a series of meetings. Notably, on April 26, he visited the headquarters of Zeiss, a prominent semiconductor and optics company, in Oberkochen, Germany. Zeiss is a vital partner to Dutch ASML, a leading semiconductor extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment manufacturer known as ‘Mighty Vendor’ in the semiconductor industry. With over 30,000 ZEISS components incorporated into each ASML EUV, Chairman Lee met with ASML CEO Christoph Fouquet and Zeiss CEO Karl Lamprecht, reinforcing their collaborative efforts by examining core semiconductor technology trends and semiconductor equipment production.

Last Saturday, Chairman Lee was granted an audience with Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. Following this, reports indicate that inspections were conducted on preparations for the Olympic Experience Center in Paris, France. Samsung Electronics is an official partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).


변종국 기자 bjk@donga.com