A Wild Chaebol Appears!
Okay, so get this! On January 3rd, the one and only Lee Boo-jin, one of the most powerful and elegant businesswomen in all of Korea, popped up on the broadcast of an NBA game. [4, 6] She was courtside at the Chase Center in San Francisco, watching the Golden State Warriors play against the Utah Jazz with her son, Im Dong-hyun. [2, 3] We’re used to seeing her in sharp business suits looking incredibly chic and untouchable, so seeing her casually dressed and enjoying a game was a total shock in the best way possible!
But Wait, Who Is She Exactly?
For my American friends who might not know, Lee Boo-jin is a huge deal here. She’s the CEO of Hotel Shilla (one of Korea’s most luxurious hotel and duty-free chains) and, more famously, the daughter of the late Samsung chairman, Lee Kun-hee. Basically, she’s a key member of the family that runs Samsung. In Korea, we call these giant family-run conglomerates “chaebol,” and the Samsung family is the undisputed number one. Seeing them in public, especially in a casual, private setting, is incredibly rare. They’re like our version of business royalty, so every little thing they do gets noticed.
A Proud Mom Moment
What makes this even sweeter is who she was with. Her son recently got into Seoul National University, which is like the Harvard of Korea, and apparently, he did incredibly well on the national college entrance exam. [2, 3, 8] So this US trip seems like a well-deserved vacation for them. [1, 5] People also noticed she was using a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip to take pictures during the game, which is a perfect little detail. [1, 8] It’s just so wholesome to see her having a normal, happy mom-and-son outing.
Not Their First Courtside Appearance
Believe it or not, this has happened before! The mother-son duo was also spotted at an LA Clippers game back in January 2024. [7, 12] It looks like attending NBA games might be their special tradition, which is honestly so cute. Koreans are loving this peek into her life. It’s a reminder that behind the powerful CEO title, she’s also just a proud mom spending quality time with her son.
