Samsung's family has completed payment of 12 trillion won in inheritance tax on the estate of the late former chairman Lee Kun-hee over five years. The heirs, including Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong (이재용), Hong Ra-hee (홍라희), honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art, Lee Boo-jin (이부진), president of Hotel Shilla, and Lee Seo-hyun (이서현), president of Samsung C&T, said on Saturday they finished the process with a total of six payments from the first installment in 2021 through this year.

The 12 trillion won payment is about 50 percent more than South Korea's 2024 inheritance tax revenue of 8.2 trillion won. It is the largest inheritance tax payment since the founding of the Republic of Korea. The heirs said at the time of filing the inheritance tax return, "Paying taxes is the natural duty of the people." The inheritance covered stakes in affiliates including Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Electronics and Samsung C&T, as well as real estate, and Lee Kun-hee died in October 2020.

The heirs applied for installment payments and chose to pay in portions. The company said the 12 trillion won collected became a foundation that can be used in welfare, health and social infrastructure. Chairman Lee Jae-yong said in a commemorative address for Samsung Electronics' 50th anniversary in 2019, "Sharing together and growing together is the path toward being the best in the world."

In the medical field, a total donation of 1 trillion won was made. In April 2021, the heirs donated 700 billion won to the National Medical Center to support the construction of a specialist hospital for infectious diseases and the expansion of research infrastructure. Of that, 500 billion won will be invested in building the Central Infectious Disease Hospital, South Korea's first specialist hospital for infectious diseases. It is set to open in 2030 in Jung-gu, Seoul, with 150 beds, and plans to conduct clinical research on new infectious diseases alongside patient care.

3 billion won was allocated to support pediatric cancer and rare diseases. In April of the same year, the heirs donated 3 billion won to Seoul National University Hospital and are investing 1.5 billion won in pediatric cancer diagnosis and treatment, 600 million won in rare disease diagnosis and treatment, and 900 million won in joint clinical research and building research infrastructure. Since the project began, 201 institutions and 1,571 personnel have participated in research, diagnosis and treatment over about five years, and the cumulative number of beneficiaries stands at about 28,000 as of the end of 2025. During his lifetime, Lee Kun-hee stressed that "Improving humanity's health and quality of life is a company's mission" and that "Collecting and preserving cultural heritage is a duty of the times for the future of human culture."

The heirs also returned to society a total of about 23,000 artworks, including cultural assets on the level of national treasures. At the time of the donation, the art world estimated the value of the works at up to 10 trillion won. The National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art held 35 touring exhibitions of the 'Lee Kun-hee Collection' from 2021 to 2024, drawing a cumulative 3.5 million visitors. The National Museum of Korea recorded 6,507,483 annual visitors in 2025, ranking third in the world after the Louvre and the Vatican Museums.

The first overseas touring exhibition of the Lee Kun-hee Collection opened in November 2025 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C. About 80,000 people visited, setting the museum's record for the most visitors to a special exhibition over the past five years. It is currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago from March to July 2026 and is set to move to the British Museum in London in October this year.