Chey Tae-won with a Soju Glass, Lee Jae-yong with a Cafeteria Tray: Business Chiefs’ “Leadership Over a Meal”

[Financial News] On the 21st, videos capturing SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at a company dinner in Euljiro became a hot topic on social media (SNS). Videos showing Chey raising soju glasses with employees at an old restaurant’s outdoor tables in Euljiro, Seoul, spread widely on SNS, with nothing held back.
That same day, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Chairman Lee Jae-yong also shared lunch with employees in a company cafeteria at a power plant construction site in the Abu Dhabi desert, UAE. The locations and menus were different, but the message was similar: step away from the office, eat together at the same table, and build trust over a drink.

The place Chey visited on the evening of the 21st was Dalmaji Gwangjang, a barbecue restaurant in Euljiro. It is well known among the MZ generation as an Euljiro outdoor dining hotspot that sets tables out in the alleys at night. Wearing a khaki shirt and a black padded vest, Chey sat among employees, eating and chatting with them. The dinner reportedly continued with a second round at a nearby Jeju restaurant.
Notably, the story came to light through eyewitness accounts and videos posted by members of the public on SNS, rather than through a company announcement. In the videos, Chey laughed with employees, gesturing animatedly, and the related clips drew more than 1 million views.
This was not the first time Chey had done something like this. In 2019, he held an unannounced “Happiness Talk” with employees at a restaurant. In 2020, he spent about five hours visiting seven restaurants and pubs near Seorin Building, joining employees’ company dinners one by one. It is a way of approaching them not as a CEO, but as a “senior colleague sitting beside them.”

On the 21st (local time), Lee visited the construction site of a gas-fired power plant in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. Samsung C&T’s construction division is building the plant with local company Trozam General Contracting. The facility will have a capacity of 1,000 MW and a total project cost of $1.35 billion (about 1.87 trillion won).
Lee toured major facilities with employees at the site and checked on construction progress and safety management. After the inspection, he had lunch in the cafeteria employees use day to day. During the meal, he asked about life and working conditions there and heard firsthand about the challenges of the heat and working overseas, as well as employees’ suggestions. He then held a meeting with executives and employees from Samsung C&T and Samsung E&A to discuss changes in the Middle East market, future business plans, and support for overseas sites.
On the 16th, five days earlier, Lee also sent gifts and letters of encouragement to 730 employees posted to nine Middle Eastern countries experiencing ongoing instability, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Iran, and to their families. Employees overseas received gift certificates worth 3 million to 5 million won, while family members in South Korea received Onnuri Gift Certificates worth 2 million to 3 million won.
The letter Lee sent reportedly included the messages, “We deeply appreciate the responsibility and effort you show in your respective roles” and “The company always puts your safety and health first.” In March this year, he also sent the same gifts and letters to around 500 people, including employees stationed in the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia and their family members.

There is a reason the two business chiefs chose to share meals as a way to communicate with employees. According to research findings published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2017 by researchers at the University of Chicago, eating the “same food” together is known to increase trust between people.
The study found that, in a wage-negotiation role-play, both sides felt closer and reached an agreement faster when they ate the same snack. The point is that the fact of “eating the same thing” itself signals trust, more than what is eaten. This is the context in which the two business chiefs’ choice to share the same outdoor barbecue and cafeteria meal as their employees, rather than dine separately, can be understood.
The two business chiefs’ meals, however, had somewhat different qualities. Chey’s dinner in Euljiro was closer to “horizontal communication” that lowers hierarchy. The informal old restaurant and its outdoor tables themselves send the message, “Even the chairman sits at the same table as us.” By contrast, Lee’s meal in a UAE company cafeteria is closer to “on-the-ground care.”
The business community sees the chiefs’ efforts to strengthen communication with employees as a way to boost cohesion within their organizations and reinforce management centered on the workplace. One interpretation is that incorporating the voices of employees at the sites into management will be an important factor in strengthening corporate competitiveness in the future.
[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter