On Oct. 25, Lee Kun-hee, former chairman of Samsung Electronics and former head of the Samsung Group, passed away at the age of 78. He died of renal failure after six years and five months of myocardial infarction. The funeral was held privately by family members only. The unexpected death of the former head of Korea’s biggest company caused a shock across the country. However, an issue triggered by his death also drew attention: inheritance tax.
Inheritance tax is a tax on wealth delivered by the death of a family member. The inheritance tax aims to resolve the gap between the rich and the poor by redistributing wealth. Inheritance tax is not heavy for the working class, but the burden is heavy for the rich. The inheritance tax laws have always been controversial due to its ambiguous purpose of “reallocating wealth”.
Lee’s stock value is estimated to be up to 18.2 trillion KRW. His assets include 3.4% of Samsung Electronics, 20.8% of Samsung Life Insurance, 3.7% of Cheil Industries, 1.4% of Samsung Construction & Trading Corporation, and 1.1% of Samsung General Chemicals. In this case, the effective tax rate for inheritance tax is 58.2%. The heirs must pay more than 10 trillion KRW as inheritance tax. 
According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, Korea has the highest effective tax rate among OECD countries. The effective tax rate on Lee’s properties would be 55% in Japan, rating the second-highest after Korea, followed by 39.9% in the United States, 30.0% in Germany, and 20.0% in the United Kingdom. Compared to other OECD countries, Korea requires excessive inheritance tax from the rich.
The validity of inheritance tax has become controversial. After the death of Lee, the notion that inheritance tax impinges on the purpose of inheritance has drawn attention. Na Kyung-won, a former member of the National Assembly, insists that “we should correct the invasion over companies’ autonomy by political forces and start a reasonable discussion on inheritance tax.” On the other hand, some argue that inheritance tax should be maintained to overcome the unequal distribution of wealth centered on the rich in Korea. Professor Choi Byung-ho of Pusan National University claims that “inheritance tax is rightful since inheritance is a source of income for the heirs.”