Lee Jay-hyun, chairman of the embattled CJ Group and cousin to Samsung Group heir apparent Lee Jay-yong, is expected to receive a kidney transplant at the end of this month at Seoul National University Hospital, the group confirmed to The Korea Herald Friday.

“If the court accepts our request that Lee’s confinement be temporarily suspended, he is scheduled to receive the surgery,” said a group spokesperson. Last month, chairman Lee was arrested on charges of tax evasion and embezzlement of corporate funds.

Lee, 53, is to first be hospitalized for two days to be treated for chronic kidney failure, then receive the surgery about a week later.

Once Lee receives the surgery, he is expected to stay in the hospital for at least three months to recover.

“Generally, three months is enough for recovery, but in some cases, patients need more time,” said Kim Yun-soo, a professor at Seoul National University Hospital.

The group said that Lee’s wife would be providing the kidney.

“Lee has put off the surgery because he was originally to receive his son’s kidney after last year’s examination. Considering his severe condition and the genetic disease he also has, his wife decided to provide her own organ,” the group official said.

The immediate cause for the surgery is uremia ― urine poisoning ― which Lee’s aides say worsened following his recent arrest for allegedly amassing slush funds.

However, Lee is also currently suffering from a plethora of illnesses including high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia and Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy, which is a genetic neurological disease that results in severe muscle loss, usually in the lower body first, then progressing to the upper body in later years.

The CJ Group chairman’s health has been under public scrutiny for some time, with many witnesses saying Lee cannot even walk properly at times due to his condition. 


By Kim Ji-hyun and Lee Ji-yoon
(jemmie@heraldcorp.com) (jylee@heraldcorp.com)