November 22, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Is Jay back? That was the question on the minds of many who attended Dream Class camp, in its seventh year run by Samsung Electronics in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. 

 Around 1,600 middle school students on July 27 enrolled in the summer camps opened at six universities across the country. The event is one of Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong's pet projects, and many speculated he may attend this year's Dream Class.  

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong (center)

Lee didn't make what would have been his first public appearance on home turf since being released after serving a jail term in February. Lee had made surprise visits to the camps in 2015 and 2016.  

Despite his absence, speculation is snowballing that Lee is preparing for an official comeback after meeting President Moon Jae-in in India earlier this month.

The Samsung heir is likely to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon early next month to discuss his future business plans.

“Samsung is soon expected to come up with new investment and job creation plans in order to show support for the government,” said an industry insider. “The investment and job plans are projected to be the largest ever, considering the negative public atmosphere about Samsung.”

Meanwhile, Samsung has maintained its education programs even after Samsung’s Corporate Strategy Office control tower was shut down due to political pressure in 2016 in the wake of former President Park Geun-hye’s graft scandal. 

Since its launch in 2012, the Dream Class project has provided lessons for around 73,000 middle school students and teaching opportunities for about 20,000 university students. 

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)