Gallery: Samsung Employees Vacation and Get Hitched Without Ever Leaving Work
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX01Samsung Galaxy
Many chaebols in South Korea have their own housing complexes that function as self-contained villages, with supermarkets and community centers within. Samsung has several, including this one near Sungkyunkwan university and Digital City in Suwon. Its most luxurious housing complex is the Raemian in Seoul. “Apart from \[the Samsung logo\], it’s no different than any other housing complex,” he says.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX02Samsung Galaxy
Young fans watch the Samsung Lions play at the baseball stadium in Daegu. Baseball is wildly popular in South Korea and Samsung’s team is the best in the country.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX03Samsung Galaxy
A memorial to Samsung stands in Daegu where Lee Byung-chul first opened a small import-export business called Samsung Sanghoe in 1938. Samsung is now South Korea’s biggest company.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX04Samsung Galaxy
A girl poses for a portrait at Everland amusement park. Since opening in 1976, the resort claims 200 million people have visited.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX05Samsung Galaxy
Swimmers play at Carribean Bay, the aquatic section of Everland amusement park.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX06Samsung Galaxy
Samsung is among several companies including Baskin Robbins, Dunkin Donuts, and Korean Air who invite children to try out adult jobs at the edutainment amusement park Kidzania in Seoul. Samsung in particular lets children take a stab at building apps and fixing air conditioning units.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX07Samsung Galaxy
The Gangnam district of Seoul is home to three gigantic buildings that house the headquarters of Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, and Samsung Life Insurance.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX08Samsung Galaxy
Samsung employees can hold inexpensive wedding ceremonies on the fifth floor of the Samsung Electronics tower in Ganham, Seoul. Each ceremony is perfectly scripted and lasts about 45 minutes.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX09Samsung Galaxy
Samsung’s S-1 company provides security equipment like this CCTV camera.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX10Samsung Galaxy
Inside a Samsung residential complex, everything is there: kindergarden, convenient stores, etc.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX11Samsung Galaxy
A crowded ashtray guards the entrance to Digital City, the research and development center for Samsung Electronics in Suwon.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX12Samsung Galaxy
Ewha Womans University, one of the most prestigious universities in Korea. Samsung built the main – and most famous – building of the campus. Seoul, South Korea.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX13Samsung Galaxy
Students wait for the start of their graduation ceremony at Sungkyunkwan University. The school was founded in 1398, and Samsung purchased it in 1996. The company hires many of its graduates.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX14Samsung Galaxy
Senior citizens gather at a community center for the elderly at a Samsung housing complex in Seoul.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX15Samsung Galaxy
The Samsung Rescue Team 3119 is an elite security group made up of 24 former soldiers and firefighters who specialize in areas like underwater rescue and building extraction. Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee founded it in 1995 after the collapse of a bridge and mall in Seoul. The team responds to emergencies at Samsung facilities. "They're really nice guys," Champalaune says.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX16Samsung Galaxy
A gloomy day at Busan New Port, built by Samsung C&T.
Romain Champalaune/REA/REDUX17Samsung Galaxy
Samsung security officers guard the entrance to a room where the company is in its fourth round of negotiations with an activist group called SHARPS. The organization represents people in the semi-conductor industry who claim employees are becoming sick from chemical exposure.
