By Donald Kirk
Forbes
Feb 11, 2020
The multi-Oscar-winning film Parasite, a bitterly comic-tragic satire on class divisions and rivalries in South Korea, owes much of its success to the 61-year-old granddaughter of the founder of Korea’s largest chaebol or conglomerate, Lee Byung-Chull.
It was Lee Mi-kyung, known as Miky, who took the microphone from the director and writer, Bong Joon Ho, after Parasite had won accolades as best picture and best international feature at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. As vice chairwoman of the CJ Group and executive producer of the film, she spoke for everyone else standing with her on stage as she heaped praise on Bong, who also won Oscars as best director and, with Han Jin Won, best original screenplay.
As CJ vice chairwoman, responsible for the entertainment division, Miky has won a reputation as an exuberant, creative figure, one of the forces behind the “Korean wave” and the international popularity of K-pop. “The DreamWorks deal marked the start of the group’s rapid expansion outside of its previous food specialty,” says Geoffrey Cain, author of the newly published book Samsung Rising. Together, Miky and her brother, says Cain, “ran the CJ Group as a very compatible team with Jae-hyun planning company strategy and Miky implementing his plans often by traveling overseas for negotiations and to scout entertainment trends.”
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