Samsung Compliance Oversight Committee, Blueprint for Transition from Ethical Management to Citizen-Friendly Corporation

Efforts in CSR and Civil Society Communication Yet Low Public Perception
Meeting with Samsung Affiliates' Presidents Early Next Year to Confirm Commitment to Compliance and Social Contribution

Kim Ji-hyung, Chairman of the Samsung Compliance Committee, is presiding over the '1st Meeting of the Samsung Compliance Committee' held on the 5th at Samsung Life Seocho Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The Samsung Compliance Committee is an external independent organization established to eradicate illegal activities by executives and employees, including CEOs of major Samsung affiliates, and to strengthen compliance management. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Samsung Compliance Committee, which has taken root as Samsung's compliance management watchdog over the past 10 months since its launch, plans to focus next year on strengthening communication between Samsung and civil society. The committee intends to review various projects Samsung has undertaken as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts and seek opinions from civil society figures to jointly explore ways for Samsung to pursue more socially friendly initiatives.

According to a senior official of the Compliance Committee on the 8th, after receiving evaluation reports on the effectiveness of compliance programs from affiliated companies last month, the committee is currently establishing its activity plan for next year. The official explained, "Next year, in addition to the existing activities of the Compliance Committee, we plan to create a process to listen to opinions from various sectors on whether Samsung can become a more citizen-friendly company and to explore solutions together."

Accordingly, the committee will identify areas where Samsung's communication with civil society has been lacking, gather expert opinions, find points for improvement, and then make recommendations to Samsung. Samsung has been operating various programs under CSR, including youth software education, crime prevention and technology sharing, incentives for excellent small and medium-sized partner companies, and future development projects. However, despite these efforts in communicating with civil society, the public's perception remains low, as pointed out by civil society groups. Therefore, in the first half of this year, Compliance Committee members plan to directly engage with civil society organizations to hear their views on how Samsung can have a more positive direct impact on citizens.

With Samsung's executive reshuffle concluding this month, the Compliance Committee is preparing to hold meetings related to compliance management with the presidents of Samsung affiliates around January next year. A Compliance Committee official explained, "This will mainly be an opportunity to reaffirm the role of the Samsung Compliance Committee to the affiliate presidents and to confirm their commitment to compliance and social contribution." They also plan to organize sessions inviting distinguished figures to educate compliance officers and management of Samsung affiliates.

It is also reported that Samsung affiliates have recently evaluated that employees' compliance awareness has improved since the launch of the Compliance Committee. Chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Ji-hyung Kim and composed of respected figures from various fields, the Compliance Committee officially launched in February this year and has recommended that Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong directly express his stance on issues such as Samsung's succession, labor relations, and communication with civil society. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong accepted the committee's recommendations, apologized for these matters, and made commitments regarding "Samsung without fourth-generation management," "guaranteeing the three labor rights," and "active communication with civil society."

Furthermore, regarding the recent retrial on bribery charges against Vice Chairman Lee on the 7th, the Compliance Committee plans to explore measures addressing the areas that the panel of expert evaluators found lacking. Former Supreme Court Justice Il-won Kang, an expert evaluator, expressed regret that "the Compliance Committee has not yet reached the stage of organizing new types of risks and establishing a monitoring and supervisory system for them." In response, Chairman Ji-hyung Kim stated, "We will regard this as a valuable opportunity for third-party verification and actively refer to it to address our shortcomings," adding, "We will continue to faithfully fulfill the duties entrusted to the committee."

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