Korean businesswoman (1979?2005)
Lee Yoon-hyung
(
Korean
:
이윤형
;
Korean pronunciation:
[ijunhj?ŋ]
; 1979 - November 18, 2005) was a South Korean millionaire and daughter of
Samsung Group
chief
Lee Kun-hee
. She died by
suicide
by hanging herself in her
New York City
apartment on November 18, 2005, at the age of 26.
[1]
Personal life
[
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]
Lee was born in
South Korea
. Her father was
Samsung
chief
Lee Kun-hee
, and her mother was
Hong Ra-hee
. She was the youngest of the four children; she had an elder brother
Lee Jae-yong
and two elder sisters
Lee Boo-jin
and Lee Seo-hyun.
Lee graduated from
Ewha Womans University
in
Seoul
with a
Bachelor of Arts
degree in
French language
and
French literature
.
[2]
She was a first year graduate student in arts management at
New York University
's
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
.
[1]
In 2003, it was revealed that she owned $191 million of Samsung stock.
[1]
In her spare time, she was very keen on car racing and many extreme sports. She also launched a personal blog to show her daily life to the public and it became very popular in South Korea.
[3]
Death
[
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]
Her cause of death was originally reported in both American and
South Korean media
as a
car crash
due to the social stigma against suicide, but the actual details were subsequently published after inquiries by reporters from
The Korea Times
.
[1]
At the time of her death, Lee was a
graduate student
at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and her father was in the United States undergoing treatment for
lung cancer
.
[4]
A doorman at her building told reporters that she sometimes stayed in her apartment for a week at a time,
[4]
and there were reports that her father had forbidden her to marry her middle-class Korean boyfriend.
[4]
At the time of her death, Lee had a personal fortune of more than ￡100 million (US$157 million).
[4]
References
[
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]