The Samsung Group is composed of numerous South Korean businesses including Samsung Electronics. It is helmed by Chairman Kun-hee Lee. The name "Samsung" means "three stars" or "tristar" in Korean. Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul.

Founded in 1938, Samsung Corporation is one of Korea’s most enduring and respected corporations, having stood behind the advancement of the national economy for more than three quarters of a century. At the origin of Samsung Group, Samsung Corporation was the trading arm of the group, epitomizing its vibrancy and dynamism in the area of global trade. Its designation in 1975 as Korea’s first-ever General Trading Company marked a new chapter for its overseas operation, which since then grew into a scope truly worthy of a global trader. Samsung Corporation’s entrepreneurship and achievement on the world scene have been a major inspiration for Korea’s trading community.

In a continuing bid to expand its business area beyond the confines of international trade, in 1996, Samsung Corporation merged with Samsung Construction, and in 1997, launched into the retail business. Currently, Samsung Corporation is engaged in two major business areas: trading, construction. The organization consists of two business groups, with the retail business headquarter under the trading group, and with the housing development headquarter under the construction group.

The Trading Group, currently operating from its 71 overseas offices, exports semiconductors, machinery, plants, iron & steel, chemical products and textile; and imports energy, chemical products and machinery & equipment. In addition to trading, the Group carries out a variety of other projects including overseas investment, project organizing services and energy & natural resource development projects.

The Construction Group (www.secc.co.kr), a provider of construction and engineering services, is also a plant builder and housing developer. To date, the group has to its credit Malaysia’s Petronas building, the world’s highest edifice, 452m high, boasting 92 stories aboveground; New Busan Port; Incheon Int’l Airport; Ulchin Nuclear Power Plant; and Raemian and Trapalace, the apartment complexes. From energy resources to housing, each of these projects is a powerful testimony to the group’s technological excellence. Last year, the group entered into a contract to build the world’s highest building, Burj Dubai.

Notably, Raemian, one of Samsung’s signature apartment complexes (www.samsungapt.co.kr) is a remarkable triumph, hailed as new standard-setting luxury housing. The success of Raemian, topping the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) in the apartment category for eight consecutive years, has driven up our overall market share in housing development to the top of the scale as well.

The Retail Business is buoyant and thriving with Samsung Plaza Bundang (www.samsungplaza.co.kr), a multi-feature shopping center, and Samsung Internet Shopping Mall, familiarly referred to as “Samsung Mall” (www.samsungmall.co.kr), as its two main platforms.