[Chairman Lee Jae-yong Inauguration] Lee Jae-yong: "My shoulders feel heavy... I will build a company trusted and loved by the people"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] On the 27th, the day Lee Jae-yong was appointed chairman of Samsung Electronics, he said, "I will try to make the company more trusted and loved by the people."

At around 11:45 a.m. that day, after finishing the morning trial of the affiliate unfair merger and accounting fraud allegations case held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judges Park Jeongje, Park Sarang, Park Jeonggil), Lee told reporters asking about his "feelings on becoming chairman," "My shoulders have become very heavy." He also added, "I ask for the support of many citizens."

Following the resolution of the Samsung Electronics board of directors held that morning, Lee was promoted to chairman after 10 years as vice chairman. Samsung announced the promotion immediately after Lee entered the courtroom that morning.

The Samsung Electronics board of directors made this decision judging that amid worsening global external conditions, ▲strengthening responsible management ▲enhancing management stability ▲and swift and bold decision-making were urgently needed. The proposal for Lee’s promotion was initiated by Kim Hanjo, the chairman of the board and an outside director, and was resolved after discussions by the nine-member board consisting of four outside directors and five inside directors.

Lee posted his thoughts and determination on the company’s internal bulletin board, saying, "Let’s surely create together a true top-tier company beyond today’s Samsung, a company loved by the people and the world," and added, "I will stand at the forefront of that."

Lee has been on trial since September 2020, charged with unfair merger and accounting fraud. The prosecution’s view is that during the merger process of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, Lee intentionally manipulated the stock prices by raising Cheil Industries’ stock price and lowering Samsung C&T’s stock price to strengthen his group’s control.

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