Samsung Group and CJ Group have clashed again over the scheduled commemoration ceremony for the late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull.

The conflict over the ancestral rites has come under another spotlight amid the drawn-out inheritance fight between top figures of the two conglomerates tracing back to Samsung’s late founder.

In a statement on Wednesday, CJ claimed that Samsung is seeking to hamper ordinary yearly visits to pay respects by siblings and other relatives.

“Samsung has notified that non-Samsung Group figures are banned from entering the Ho-Am Foundation through the main gate for the coming commemoration ceremony,” CJ said.

“In addition, we are not allowed to use the hanok (traditional Korean house) facilities there, though the facilities are essential to serve food for ancestral rites,” it added.

The Ho-Am foundation, owned by Samsung Group, was created as a memorial organization for the late founder.

CJ Group was spun off from Samsung Group in 1994 after Lee Kun-hee took control of the conglomerate.

The inheritance battles between Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and his siblings officially began earlier this year with their lawyers attending a court session in May.

Lee Kun-hee’s elder brother Lee Maeng-hee had filed an inheritance suit against the chairman of the country’s largest conglomerate at the court last February.

Following the suit, some other family members, including older sister Lee Sook-hee, took similar action against the chairman.

The Samsung chairman had fiercely criticized his elder brother and sister for bringing the legal proceedings against him, describing them as figures who had already been ousted from the family.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)