Samsung heir returns home after divorce

SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- The heir to Samsung Group returned home to South Korea after a month-long business trip during which he and his wife of eleven years were divorced, group officials said Wednesday.

Lee Jae-yong, the only son of former Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, arrived at an
international airport west of Seoul on Tuesday evening on a flight from Japan,
officials said.
On Feb. 18, the junior Lee, 41, and his 32-year-old former wife, Lim Se-ryeong,
agreed to divorce after more than 11 years of marriage, their lawyers said.
The out-of-court settlement came a few days after Lim filed a lawsuit with a
Seoul court while the junior Lee, who currently serves as senior vice president
of the group's mainstay affiliate Samsung Electronics Co., was on the 40-day
business trip.
The divorce is another blow to the Lee family and Samsung, which has recently
been engulfed in a series of corruption scandals.
"Senior Vice President Lee spent most of his time meeting foreign clients and
inspecting overseas affiliates during the business trip," an official at Samsung
said.
During the trip, the junior Lee visited the United States, China, Europe and
Japan, the official said.
The senior Lee, 67, stepped down as chairman of Samsung Group last year, soon
after being found guilty of financial wrongdoing linked to his apparent transfer
of wealth to his son.