Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee said Wednesday he would no longer get involved in the inheritance suit with his siblings, apologizing for publicly expressing his anger over the case.

While meeting reporters at the Gimpo International Airport to leave for Europe, Lee said: “I will leave the suit up to the legal professionals and only focus on nurturing Samsung Group.”

Lee’s comments come after he fiercely criticized his elder brother Maeng-hee and sister Sook-hee for filing inheritance suits against him earlier. The two, among others, said they did not receive their portions of stocks which formerly belonged to their father and Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull.

In the meantime, the chairman of the country’s largest conglomerate was joined by his oldest daughter and Hotel Shilla president Lee Boo-jin to make his first stop in Spain.

“Chairman Lee said he was going to the European countries to go on-site to watch the market condition of those nations because the region is experiencing the most economic difficulties in the midst of a sluggish global economy,” said Samsung communication chief Rhee In-yong. “He will be back after four weeks.”

Lee was escorted by his son and heir apparent Lee Jay-yong and a number of Samsung executives such as Kim Soon-taek, head of the corporate strategy office and the flagship electronics unit’s vice chairmen Choi Gee-sung and Kwon Oh-hyun, as well as its digital media and communications chief Yoon Boo-keun.

By Cho Ji-hyun(sharon@heraldcorp.com)