Meet The 10 Richest People In South Korea For 2023

Forbes magazine released a list of South Korea’s fifty richest billionaires in 2023. Here are the wealthiest who made it into the top ten.

10. Lee Boo Jin — $3.3 Billion USD

Lee Boo Jin is the fifty-three-year-old president and chief executive of Hotel Shilla, which is the biggest duty-free operator behind Lotte. She’s the oldest daughter of Samsung Group‘s chairman Lee Kun Hee and is a divorced mother of one.

Lee Boo Jin | Yonhap News

9. Cho Jung Ho — $3.4 Billion USD

Cho Jung Ho is the sixty-five-year-old chairman of Meritz Financial Group. He’s the youngest son of Cho Choong Hoon, the late founder of Hanjin Group, and is a married father of three children.

Cho Jung Ho | Forbes

8. Kim Jung Min And Kim Jung Youn — $3.6 Billion USD

Kim Jung Min and Kim Jung Youn are the daughters of Kim Jung Ju, the late founder of the online gaming company Nexon. The sisters inherited the company’s stakes after their father’s death. They do not run the company and have chosen to live private lives.

The Nexon logo. | Nexon

7. Mong Koo Chung — $4.1 Billion USD

Mong Koo Chung is an eighty-five-year-old who spent twenty years as the chairman of Hyundai Motor. His billionaire son, Chung Eui Sun, took the position after he stepped down. Mong Koo Chung is the second son of Chung Ju Yung, the late founder of Hyundai Group, and is a married father of four children.

Mong Koo Chung | Yonhap News

6. Hong Ra Hee — $4.9 Billion USD

Hong Ra Hee is the seventy-eight-year-old widow of Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun Hee, Korea’s richest person before his passing in 2020. They had three children together. Hong Ra Hee’s father was the chairman of JoongAng Ilbo, and her brother Hong Seok Joh is also a billionaire.

Hong Ra Hee | Yonhap News

5. Kim Beom Su — $5 Billion USD

Kim Beom Su is the fifty-seven-year-old founder of the famous messaging app Kakao. He stepped down as chairman in 2022 and now has more time to spend with his wife and two children.

Kim Beom Su | Forbes

4. Kwon Hyuk Bin — $5.1 Billion USD

Kwon Hyuk Bin is the forty-nine-year-old founder of the gaming company Smilegate. They partnered with the famous Chinese company Tencent and are even shareholders in the mobile game developer SundayToz. Kwon Hyuk Bin is a separated father of two children.

Kwon Hyuk Bin | Forbes

3. Seo Jung Jin — $5.7 Billion USD

Seo Jung Jin is the sixty-six-year-old co-founder of the biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, which creates drugs to treat various illnesses. He’s a married father of two children. His oldest son Seo Jin Seok co-chairs Celltrion Inc.; his youngest son Seo Joon Serk co-chairs Celltrion Healthcare.

Seo Jung Jin | Celltrion

2. Jay Y. Lee — $8 Billion USD

Jay Y. Lee is the fifty-five-year-old executive chairman of Samsung Electronics, taking over the role in 2022 after his father passed in 2020. He’s a divorced father of two children. In 2021, Jay Y. Lee was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for bribing a confidante of former President Park Geun Hye.

Jay Y. Lee | Seong Joon Cho/Bloomberg

1. Michael Kim — $9.7 Billion USD

Michael Kim is the sixty-year-old co-founder of the private equity firm MBK Partners, which handles $26 billion USD in assets. He was born in South Korea but also has U.S. citizenship. Michael Kim is a married father of two children.

Michael Kim | MBK Partners