Samsung heir Lee apologises over succession, won't hand
control to children
Send a link to a friend
[May 06, 2020] By
Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Group heir Jay Y.
Lee, embroiled in a bribery scandal, on Wednesday made a rare apology
over controversial succession plans and said he will not hand over
management rights to his children at the family-controlled conglomerate.
His first public statement in five years came after the Supreme Court in
August overturned an appeals court ruling on the bribery case, raising
the possibility of a tougher sentence and potential return to jail for
the chief of South Korea's biggest conglomerate.
"We failed, at times, to meet society's expectations. We even
disappointed people and caused concern because we did not strictly
uphold the law and ethical standards," the 51-year-old Lee told a press
conference at the company's Seoul office.
He also apologised for the behaviour of executives caught sabotaging
labour union activities, and vowed to guarantee labour rights at the
tech giant.
Some of Samsung Group's former and current executives have been
investigated or convicted in other cases. For example, then-board
chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Lee Sang-hoon, was jailed in
December for sabotaging union activities. He has since resigned and
lodged an appeal.
Lee's remarks come after Samsung Group's oversight panel in March
advised him to apologise over the handling of succession, labour and
others issues, and pledge to prevent any repeat of governance
violations.
In January, Samsung set up the compliance committee after a judge
overseeing Lee's bribery case criticised the conglomerate for its lack
of an effective compliance system to prevent executive wrongdoing.
However, the committee, headed by a former supreme court judge, has
faced scepticism from governance experts who called it a gesture aimed
more towards securing leniency in court.
"Both apology and promise are vague. He did not specifically address
what he has done wrong," said Kim Woo-chan, a professor of finance at
Korea University Business School.
Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, the group's crown
jewel, was charged with bribing a friend of former President Park to win
government favour over a deal widely seen as key to succession planning
at the conglomerate.
[to top of second column] |
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman, Jay Y. Lee, bows during a news
conference at a company's office building in Seoul, South Korea, May
6, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Pool
Lee served one year in detention but was released in 2018 after the appellate
court halved a lower court's five-year jail sentence and suspended it for three
years. That ruling was overturned in August.
The executive, wearing a dark suit, said many of the controversies surrounding
him and Samsung stemmed from succession issues. "I give my word here today that
from now on, there will be no more controversy regarding succession," Lee said.
"I do not plan to pass down my role to my children. This is something I have
thought about for a long time but have been hesitant to express it openly."
MERS OUTBREAK
The media-shy Lee, the only son of Samsung's frail 78-year-old chairman, Lee
Kun-hee, has been the group since Lee senior was hospitalised for a heart attack
in 2014.
The last time Lee had a press conference was in 2015 when he offered a public
apology over Samsung Group's handling of the spread of Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) at a Seoul hospital run by a group foundation.
In 2017, President Moon Jae-in succeeded ousted predecessor Park Geun-hye vowing
to reform family-run conglomerates that dominate the economy, saying he would
not treat tycoon convictions lightly with presidential pardons, as he said had
been done in the past.
Samsung Group has 59 affiliates with interests including technology, insurance,
shipbuilding, hotels, theme parks and fashion. Its flagship company, Samsung
Electronics, is the world's biggest smartphone maker and memory chip vendor.
Samsung Electronics last week flagged a profit fall for the current quarter due
to a coronavirus-related slump in demand for smartphones and TVs, though said
its chip business would remain solid.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Christopher Cushing &
Shri Navaratnam)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |