Samsung chief rules out promotion of heir apparent

Chairman Lee pledges to make active investments next year


Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee said Thursday his heir apparent and the company’s chief operating officer Jae-yong, and daughter and Cheil Industries’ No. 2 Seo-hyun will not be promoted in the group’s new management lineup set to be announced soon.

“The position and role of Lee Jae-yong will remain unchanged and the same goes for Lee Seo-hyun,” he said in a meeting with reporters ahead of the group’s annual award ceremony held at its headquarters in southern Seoul.

Chairman Lee also said the yearend promotions will be no different from previous years ― honoring those who made contributions and suspending those who committed wrongdoings.

Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee (fifth from left, front row) and his wife Hong Ra-hee (fifth from right, front row) pose with seven Samsung executives and two chiefs of the group’s partner firms, as well as their family members, after the nine were named this year’s Samsung fellows at a ceremony in southern Seoul on Thursday. (Samsung Group)

The group must be ready to the weather tough economic conditions, especially with the unease in advanced European nations, said Lee.

“We will also more actively inject investments compared to other times,” the 69-year-old tycoon said.

The event comes as the yearend reshuffle for the group is scheduled to take place in early December.

The possible promotions of Samsung chief Lee’s three children have been in the spotlight with some predicting that heir apparent Jae-yong, who is current the chief operating officer at Samsung Electronics, may take on a bigger role within the group’s flagship electronics arm.

The youngest Seo-hyun, executive vice president at Cheil Industries, was seen as a contender since her father stressed in August that women should also make their way up the Samsung corporate ladder to become presidents.

The latest shakeup tapped Yoon Soon-bong, president of Samsung Petrochemical Co., as general support chief of Samsung Medical Center and Samsung Electronics’ executive vice president Chung Yoo-sung as head of Samsung Petrochemical.

Samsung Electronics’ LCD division chief Chang Won-kie and Samsung Techwin president Oh Chang-suk were stripped of their positions earlier this year.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)