Samsung chairman’s $3,700 Italian vest draws online attention

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, center, arrives at Gimpo Business Aviation Center in Seoul’s Gangseo-gu on Thursday after returning from a business trip to Europe. Lee wore a padded vest over a suit. Newsis

Samsung Electronics head Lee Jae-yong returning from Europe has caught online attention — this time because of his outfits.

Lee returned to Korea on Friday after a visit to Europe, where he is believed to have met with European automakers to discuss Samsung’s automobile electronics industry. Samsung SDI head Choi Ju-seon reportedly accompanied Lee on the trip.

A man believed to be Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong stands up after finishing a meal at a ramen restaurant in Kyoto, Japan, in footage from YouTube channel Fogmin. Captured from YouTube

But it was Lee’s outfit that quickly caught attention of people online. He was seen wearing a white vest over a suit, an item that some internet users said looked identical to one worn by a man believed to be Lee in a travel YouTube video filmed at a ramen restaurant in Kyoto last September.

That earlier video, uploaded by a travel YouTuber, showed a man resembling Lee eating alone at the restaurant. The person’s identity was never officially confirmed. But after photos of Lee’s return from Europe circulated this week, some online commenters pointed to the apparent match in outerwear as reason to believe the man in the Kyoto video was in fact the Samsung chairman.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, center, poses with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun after a meal of chicken and beer at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant near Samseong Station in Seoul’s Gangnam District, Oct. 30, 2025. Joint Press Corps

The vest Lee wore is believed to be from Italian luxury brand Brunello Cucinelli and is priced at around 5.6 million won ($3,700). Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Eui-sun also appeared to wear a vest from the same brand during the so-called “Kkanbu meeting” with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Lee in Seoul last October.

The episode highlights the public fascination with Lee in Korea, including interest in the products he uses. In 2016, for example, public attention surged when the lip balm he used during a parliamentary hearing was revealed to cost just 2,000 won. In January, Vietnamese coconut water spotted inside Lee’s car as he departed for the U.S. also drew online attention.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.