Lee Seo-hyun, the second daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, will step away from management of fashion division at Samsung C&T Corp. to join Samsung Welfare Foundation, the group’s philanthropic organization.

Samsung Welfare Foundation held a temporary board meeting on Thursday and announced it has appointed the 45-year-old Lee – also younger sister of Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee – as its new director. Her four-year term will begin on Jan. 1.

She was also appointed as head of a new operation committee under Samsung Museum of Art, better known as Leeum, created to discuss key issues and offer advice for the museum’s development.

“Lee is a well-qualified person for the position that will be able to succeed the foundation’s establishment purpose and develop social contribution projects,” according to a statement released by Samsung Welfare Foundation. “She has long been involved in various social contribution activities dedicated to underprivileged youth and regional society.”

Samsung Welfare Foundation was founded by Samsung Group Chairman Lee in 1989 with an aim to support the underprivileged and promote charity projects.

The youngest child of Chairman Lee joined Samsung Group’s fashion business in 2002 after graduating from the Parsons School of Design in New York and became president of fashion division at Samsung C&T, the conglomerate’s de facto holding company, in 2015.

It is not immediately known what made her leave her career in the fashion industry she has spent 16 years. Her sister Lee Boo-jin, the eldest child of the business tycoon, is president and CEO of Hotel Shilla, a hotel and resort arm of Samsung Group, and her older brother Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, is currently playing a role left void by their ailing father who has been bedridden since 2014.

Lee Seo-hyun is married to Kim Jae-yeol, president of Samsung Economic Research Institute.

By Lee Sang-duk and Lee Eun-joo

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