Busan, Korea (under Japanese rule). Lee Byung-chul founds a trucking business he calls Samsung Trading Co., the precursor to Samsung, meaning “Three Stars” (explaining the initial corporate logos). Lee Byung-chul (Korean: 이병철; February 12, 1910 – November 19, 1987) was in fact the founder of the Samsung Group, the largest chaebol (A chaebol 재벌, literally “rich family,” is a large South Korean industrial conglomerate managed and controlled by an individual or family) in South Korea, and is considered one of South Korea’s most successful businessmen.
