Leeum honorary director Hong Ra-hee awarded Korea's Dongbaek Medal

Hong Ra-hee, serving as honorary director of the Leeum Museum of Art and mother of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong, was presented with the Dongbaek Medal, the third-highest grade of Korea's Order of Civil Merit, according to the Samsung Foundation of Culture. The distinction recognizes more than four decades of activity in cultural promotion, health care and social welfare, adding to her 2024 Korean Red Cross gold humanitarian medal.

A Seoul National University graduate in applied arts, Hong directed the Hoam Museum from 1995 and oversaw Leeum's launch in 2004, later returning as honorary director in 2025 after stepping down in 2017. The Samsung family has donated roughly 23,000 pieces from Lee Kun-hee's collection to institutions such as the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, with the works now touring internationally at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the British Museum. Additionally, the family committed 1 trillion won from Lee Kun-hee's estate to health initiatives, allocating 300 billion won for childhood cancer and rare diseases and 700 billion won for infectious-disease infrastructure.