The heads of South Korea's largest business groups will visit operations at home and abroad during the Chuseok holiday to review this year's performance and draw up next year's business plans. With third-quarter earnings reports due in succession after the holiday, followed by next year's business plans, investment and budget allocations, chief executive evaluations, executive appointments and organizational reshuffles, the chairmen are set for a busier-than-usual break. Corporate Korea's clock is expected to shift more quickly toward 2027.
Lee and Chey Head to New York
Cooperation With Big Tech on AI and Chips
According to business sources on the 23rd, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) Chairman Jay Y. Lee is expected to remain overseas during this Chuseok holiday for on-site management. Lee has traditionally used holiday breaks to visit overseas operations, encourage local employees and review key business issues in person.
During the 2023 Chuseok holiday, Lee visited three Middle Eastern countries — Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt — and in 2024 he toured a Samsung home appliance plant in Poland. Over the Lunar New Year holiday that same year, he visited a Samsung SDI battery plant in Malaysia to review operations. He also carried out overseas site visits during last year's Chuseok holiday, sources said.
Lee is scheduled to attend the Korea Society Gala Dinner in New York on the 28th, where he will congratulate Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang on receiving the Van Fleet Award for contributions to Korea-U.S. relations. Lee is expected to use the trip to meet with U.S. operations and client executives to review the expansion of the company's chip and artificial intelligence businesses.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won will also attend the same event and meet with Huang, bringing the two executives' so-called "AI partnership" back to New York. Ahead of that, Chey will accompany President Lee Jae-myung on a visit to Mexico on the 24th in his capacity as chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he will discuss ways to expand economic cooperation with local companies.
Koo Kwang-mo and Koo Ja-eun Travel to Mexico
Site Visits to Explore North American Expansion
LG Group (003550.KS) Chairman Koo Kwang-mo will also join the business delegation to Mexico to support economic diplomacy.
Koo held talks with Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella and other top management at the company's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on the 21st, where the two sides signed a strategic partnership. Following the expansion of cooperation with global technology companies, Koo is expected to seek new business opportunities in Mexico as well.
LS Group (006260.KS) Chairman Koo Ja-eun will also visit Mexico. With LS expanding investment locally in cables, power equipment and electric vehicle components, Koo is expected to inspect operations in person and review the group's North American market strategy.
Chung Stays in Korea to Review
Mobility Business and U.S. Tariff Response
Hyundai Motor (005380.KS) Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung is expected to remain in Korea during the holiday without separate overseas plans, reviewing second-half results and next year's business strategy.
Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its future mobility businesses spanning autonomous driving, robotics and hydrogen while accelerating a restructuring of its global business portfolio. Chung is expected to review the group's strategy for responding to U.S. tariffs along with its plan to invest 125 trillion won in Korea through 2030.
Hanwha Links Defense, Shipbuilding and Space
Plans for a "Korean SpaceX"
Hanwha Group (000880.KS) Chairman Seung-youn Kim and Vice Chairman Kim Dong-kwan are expected to stay at home and refine the group's management strategy, sources said.
Hanwha has recently moved in earnest to link its defense, shipbuilding and space businesses into a single core growth axis. The group has become the second-largest shareholder in Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to broaden its aerospace footprint, while in the United States it is seeking to expand its local base through the modernization of the Philly Shipyard and a bid to acquire Austal USA.
Kim Dong-kwan, who has stepped to the forefront of group management, is expected to focus during the holiday on medium- to long-term strategy to boost synergies between the defense and space businesses and nurture what the group calls a "Korean SpaceX."
HD Hyundai, POSCO, Lotte and Shinsegae
Review This Year, Plan for Next
HD Hyundai (267250.KS) Chairman Chung Ki-sun also plans to remain in Korea to focus on management planning. Having personally overseen business restructuring and future growth strategy since taking the chairmanship last October, Chung may review follow-up investments such as the acquisition of a U.S. shipyard or equity stakes, following the group's recently announced investment in small modular reactors, observers said.
POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa also plans to take a short break while reviewing the group's key issues and business portfolio.
Lotte Group Chairman Dong-bin Shin is expected to spend time with family in Korea and Japan while mapping out second-half operations and next year's business strategy. Shinsegae (004170.KS) Group Chairman Chung Yong-jin also plans to stay in Korea to review major management issues.
Earnings and Personnel Season Follows Chuseok
Corporate Korea Shifts to 2027 Planning
Business circles see this Chuseok holiday as more than a simple break, viewing it as a critical juncture for preparing year-end personnel decisions and next year's business strategy.
Once third-quarter earnings announcements begin in earnest after the holiday, major groups are expected to analyze performance at each affiliate to separate growth businesses from non-growth ones, and on that basis accelerate work on investment scale, budget allocation, executive appointments and organizational reshuffles.
"For the chairmen, the Chuseok holiday is a time when rest coincides with year-end management reviews and planning for next year," an industry official said. "Work will begin in earnest to sort out this year's growth and non-growth businesses and, based on that, allocate year-end personnel and next year's investment and budgets."
