The Samsung Group is a South Korean-based conglomerate with multiple subsidiaries. It is one of the largest companies in Korea and produces nearly one-fifth of the country's total exports, with a primary focus on electronics, heavy industry, construction, and defense. Samsung's other major subsidiaries include insurance, advertising, and entertainment.

With just 30,000 won (about US$27), Lee Byung-chul started Samsung in 1938 as a trading company in a city called Taegu. With 40 employees, Samsung started as a supermarket, trading and exporting goods produced in and around the city. It sold dried Korean fish and vegetables, as well as its own noodles.

The company grew and expanded to Seoul in 1947, but left when the Korean War broke out. After the war, Lee started a sugar factory in Busan, before expanding into textiles and building Korea's largest wool mill.

This early diversification became a successful growth strategy for Samsung, which quickly expanded into insurance, securities, and retail businesses. After the war, Samsung focused on the redevelopment of Korea, particularly industrialization.