A rich Korean heiress was once the talk of the town for marrying her bodyguard.
Lee Boo Jin is the daughter of the late Samsung magnate Lee Kun Hee and is currently the CEO of the prestigious Shilla Hotel. She is known as a “chaebol,” an heir to a conglomerate, who is one of the richest people in South Korea.
Given her wealth, it was a shock to the nation when her relationship was announced. Instead of being tied to another chaebol, Lee Boo Jin was in love with her very own bodyguard.
The latter was Im Woo Jae, an employee of a security service affiliate of Samsung Group. They reportedly met in a volunteer event and fell in love, tying the knot in 1999. He was seen as an unusual match for someone from the most powerful family in the country.
Despite his humble background, he was able to marry Lee Boo Jin and make a name for himself. Im Woo Jae took an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and became an executive vice president at Samsung Electro-Mechanics.
Unfortunately, their love story did not stand the test of time. She filed for divorce and custody of their child in 2014, around 15 years after they first tied the knot.
In 2017, a court ordered her to pay ₩8.60 billion KRW (about $6.44 million USD) to her estranged husband. She received sole custody of their son.
