South Korea’s richest man, Lee Kun-hee, returned yesterday as chairman of global giant Samsung Electronics, almost two years after stepping down following a probe into his business dealings.
Three months after Lee received a presidential pardon for tax evasion, the company said it needed his leadership “to take the upper hand in the global market amid the world economic crisis.”
The 68-year-old, however, expressed uncertainty about the future as Samsung tries to grow in the face of increasing low-cost Chinese competition.
PHOTO: AFP
“This is a time of real crisis. Global companies are crumbling. We don’t know what will happen to Samsung either,” a company statement quoted him as saying when he agreed to return at the request of its executives. “Within 10 years, all Samsung products may disappear. Now, we have to start anew. Let’s move on, with eyes set straight ahead.”
During his 20 years as chairman, Samsung Electronics became the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips and second-biggest manufacturer of mobile phones.
He resigned in April 2008 after being charged with tax evasion and breach of trust, but in December he received a special pardon so he could resume his suspended membership of the International Olympic Committee and work to bring the 2018 Winter Olympics to South Korea.
Samsung Electronics reported annual earnings of more than US$8 billion last year, along with record sales. It employs 164,600 people in 61 countries and is competing with Hewlett-Packard for the status of the world’s biggest technology firm by revenue, but Korea Investment Securities’ analyst Kim Jung-hoon said there was lingering uncertainty because of the effects of the global downturn as well as Chinese rivals that are fast catching up with South Korean firms.
“In the current situation, strong leadership is required. Lee’s return to the helm of the world’s largest producer of LCD panels and DRAM memory chips will be a great boon to the country’s economy,” Kim said.
Samsung Electronics shares closed up just 10,000 won (US$8.80), or 1.24 percent, at 819,000 won.
Kim Young-june, analyst with LIG Investment and Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires that Lee’s return was positive for the company’s management strategy.
“He might have decided to return to play a powerful leadership role in finding a future growth engine to capture a leading global position after the company survived the global financial crisis in good shape,” Kim Young-june said.
Solidarity for Economic Reform, a group campaigning for better corporate governance, however, said Samsung had turned its back on reform promises made two years ago.
“Samsung’s promise to reform made in April 2008 turned out to be a public fraud only aimed at winning a favorable court ruling,” it said in a statement.
Lee is the son of the founder of the Samsung group of companies, whose products or services touch every aspect of South Koreans’ lives. His own son, Jae-yong, is being groomed as a third-generation successor.
FIREPOWER: On top of the torpedoes, the military would procure Kestrel II anti-tank weapons systems to replace aging license-produced M72 LAW launchers Taiwan is to receive US-made Mark 48 torpedoes and training simulators over the next three years, following delays that hampered the navy’s operational readiness, the Ministry of National Defense’s latest budget proposal showed. The navy next year would acquire four training simulator systems for the torpedoes and take receipt of 14 torpedoes in 2027 and 10 torpedoes in 2028, the ministry said in its budget for the next fiscal year. The torpedoes would almost certainly be utilized in the navy’s two upgraded Chien Lung-class submarines and the indigenously developed Hai Kun, should the attack sub successfully reach operational status. US President Donald Trump
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
RSS