Leeum's Hong Ra-hee receives Order of Civil Merit for cultural contributions
Hong Ra-hee, right, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art and this year's recipient of the Dongbaek Medal, the third-highest grade of Korea's Civil Merit Order, and Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Hyung-hoon pose during an award ceremony in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Hong Ra-hee, honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art and mother of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, received the Dongbaek Medal, the third-highest grade of Korea's Order of Civil Merit, for her more than four decades of contributions to culture, health care and social welfare, the Samsung Foundation of Culture said on Monday.
The award recognizes contributions to public welfare and national development. The honor follows Hong's receipt of the Korean Red Cross’ gold humanitarian medal in 2024, according to the foundation.
Hong, the widow of late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, has long been an influential figure in Korea’s art world.
A graduate of Seoul National University with a degree in applied arts, she became director of the Hoam Museum of Art in 1995 and took the helm of Leeum when it opened in 2004. She stepped down in 2017 and returned as honorary director in 2025.
The Samsung family’s influence spans generations, from founder Lee Byung-chul’s collection of Korean antiquities to Hong’s role in developing its modern and contemporary holdings. The Samsung Foundation of Culture operates both museums.
In 2021, Hong and other family members donated about 23,000 artworks from Lee Kun-hee’s collection to public institutions, including the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the foundation said.
The donated collection has been featured in an international touring exhibition that began in November 2025, with stops at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., the Art Institute of Chicago and the British Museum in London.
The family also committed 1 trillion won ($756 million) from his estate to health care: 300 billion won for childhood cancer and rare diseases and 700 billion won for infectious disease infrastructure.