Hong Ra-hee Back Leading Leeum Museum of Art After Eight-Year Hiatus
The businesswoman’s comeback has fuelled speculation within the art world of a potential revival for South Korea’s stagnant art market. Save to My Ocula
South Korean billionaire businesswoman Hong Ra-hee is back in the public eye as honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art after an eight-year hiatus, in a move which has sparked optimism for Korea’s art market.
A scandal involving her son, Samsung Electronics’ vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, saw Hong step down in 2017, leaving the museum without an official director but with her daughter, Lee Seo-hyun, ready to take the reins.
Hong’s return was announced by the Samsung Foundation of Culture, which oversees both Leeum and Hoam. The announcement coincided with the 31 March opening of a major exhibition at the Hoam Museum of Art—the first full-scale showcase of Jeong Seon (1676–1759), a celebrated Korean landscape painter—marking the Foundation’s 60th anniversary.
With a degree of fine art, Hong entered the art scene in 1995 as director of the Hoam Museum of Art, founded by her father-in-law, Samsung’s Lee Byung-chul, before becoming director of Leeum in 2004 and establishing herself as a key figure in Korea’s art world.
Her return has attracted attention in the Korean press, with many outlets speculating that it could help revitalise the country’s stagnant art market and provide a boost to the struggling antique art sector.
The Leeum Museum of Art is currently hosting Pierre Huyghe: Liminal, running until 6 July 2025. —[O]
Main image: Exhibition view: Pierre Huyghe, Liminal, Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (27 February–6 July 2025). Courtesy Leeum Museum of Art. Photo: LESS.
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