The Landscape Changed by COVID-19... Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Mobis Hold 'Mask General Meetings'

Basic Fever Checks and Hand Sanitizing... Samsung Electronics Draws Attention by Providing Masks

Kim Ki-nam, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, is speaking at the 51st Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Samsung Electronics held at the Suwon Convention Center in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 18th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung, Suwon aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporters Changhwan Lee, Jihui Kim, Gimin Lee] Around 8 a.m. on the 18th, upon arriving at the 3rd floor of the Suwon Convention Center in Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, where Samsung Electronics' regular shareholders' meeting was held, an employee wearing a mask approached and took my temperature first. Only after completing the temperature check and hand sanitization was I allowed to enter the shareholders' meeting hall. At the information desk, after confirming my status as a shareholder, I was handed the shareholders' meeting agenda report and voting ballot, along with a KF94 mask and a portable hand sanitizer as a bonus. At the same time, at the Samsung SDI shareholders' meeting held at The-K Hotel Convention Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, every attending shareholder was given one mask each in a white envelope. A female shareholder who appeared to be in her 60s received the mask and exclaimed, "This year, the mask is a gift," showing delight. After carefully filling out the health questionnaire and passing through the thermal imaging camera without issue, I entered the shareholders' meeting hall.

At exactly 9 a.m., the Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI shareholders' meetings commenced, but the atmosphere inside the meeting halls was starkly quiet. Samsung Electronics had rented a large exhibition hall with 1,500 seats, but only about 400 shareholders actually attended. Moreover, a designated seating system was operated with two seats left empty between attendees, creating an awkward silence. Although the introduction of electronic voting for the first time this year reduced the number of shareholders exercising voting rights on-site, the unusual shareholders' meeting scene was clearly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each time a shareholder spoke, the microphone was disinfected, and a minimum distance of 6 meters was maintained between the management podium and shareholders, practicing 'social distancing,' which was also a distinctive sight. Due to concerns about COVID-19 infection, this was the first time Samsung Electronics held its shareholders' meeting outside of its Seocho headquarters building.

On the 18th, at the Hyundai Mobis shareholders' meeting held in the main auditorium of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, an employee wearing a mask is checking attendees for fever. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

At the same time, only about 20 shareholders wearing masks sat alone in the 300-seat main auditorium of Hyundai Mobis' shareholders' meeting held at Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. This was a completely different atmosphere from last year's shareholders' meeting, which drew intense attention due to the voting battle with the U.S.-based hedge fund Elliott Management. Prior to the meeting, Hyundai Mobis CEO Jung Jung-guk sent a shareholder letter urging shareholders to prioritize exercising voting rights through electronic voting or proxy rather than visiting the meeting in person, which seemed to have discouraged attendance.

The shareholders' meetings of each company ended quietly without any significant issues. Samsung Electronics resolved agenda items including business reports by division such as Device Solutions (DS) including semiconductors, Consumer Electronics (CE), IT & Mobile (IM), approval of financial statements, appointment of inside directors, and approval of director remuneration limits. Kim Ki-nam, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics and chairman of the shareholders' meeting, reiterated the commitment to expanding the technological gap, stating regarding investment plans, "For system semiconductors, we plan to invest 133 trillion KRW in R&D and production facilities by 2030, and for quantum dot displays, we will actively pursue the business and invest 13 trillion KRW by 2025." Regarding concerns about the spread of COVID-19, he expressed that there are currently no production disruptions but voiced concerns about the potential contraction of the smartphone market in the future. Kim Hyun-suk, President of Samsung Electronics (head of CE division), said, "In the early stages of COVID-19, there were some component issues in China, but currently there are no production disruptions at all," and added, "We have not yet assessed how much COVID-19 will impact distribution or consumers, and we will prepare through further research." Koh Dong-jin, President of Samsung Electronics (head of IM division), predicted, "The smartphone market will shrink this year due to the impact of COVID-19."

At Hyundai Mobis' shareholders' meeting, the agenda item for the reappointment of Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Group's Executive Vice Chairman, as an inside director passed without incident despite opposition from some overseas pension funds. Having become the de facto leader of the group last year by holding CEO positions at both Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Mobis, Executive Vice Chairman Chung is expected to continue to dominate the boards of key affiliates and lead major decision-making. Hyundai Mobis conveyed to shareholders its ambition to lead major changes in organizational structure and corporate culture this year to become a game changer in the future mobility sector. CEO Park stated, "We will focus on nurturing talent in autonomous driving, connectivity, and electrification, and based on this, lead future new technologies and businesses to simultaneously secure growth and profitability," emphasizing, "We will accelerate open innovation by expanding strategic alliances and cooperation with technology-leading companies and promising startups to proactively secure core technological capabilities."

Samsung SDI passed four agenda items: approval of financial statements, appointment of directors, appointment of audit committee members, and approval of director remuneration limits. Samsung SDI President Jeon Young-hyun said, "Although difficulties are expected due to the impact of COVID-19, we will develop new products and discover new growth engines based on strong execution capabilities," and added, "This year, marking the 50th anniversary of our founding, we will strive to establish a foundation to leap forward as a 100-year company with leading-edge technology."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.