Lee Chan-hee, Deputy Chairman, "Re-discussion on Samsung's Return to FKI on the 18th" (Comprehensive)

Remarks After the Interim Meeting of the Subcommittee on the 16th
Second Meeting on the 18th, Board Meeting Procedures Before the Federation of Korean Industries General Assembly on the 22nd

Lee Chan-hee, Chairman of Samsung's Compliance Committee, said on the afternoon of the 16th that the committee "has not reached a final conclusion" regarding Samsung's rejoining of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and that "a meeting will be held on the morning of the 18th."

Chairman Lee made these remarks to reporters after a temporary meeting of the Compliance Committee at the Samsung Life Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The next meeting is scheduled to take place at 7 a.m. on the 18th at the Samsung Life Seocho Building in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.

He said, "There were opinions that more careful consideration was needed (at today's meeting), and since it is a matter that cannot be easily decided, it was decided to hold another meeting," adding, "Nothing has been decided today."

Before the meeting, there was analysis suggesting that the Compliance Committee might set a condition for Samsung's rejoining, such as requiring the FKI to undergo an approval process by the committee when contributing to the Korea-Japan Future Fund, which was jointly established with Japan's Keidanren and amounts to 2 billion won (1 billion won from the Korean side).

When asked, "What concerns were the most prevalent?" he did not give a direct answer. He said, "There were many opinions on various aspects, and since they could not be consolidated into a final single opinion, it was decided to hold another meeting."

When asked if a decision would be made on the 18th, he replied, "We will have to see after the meeting."

Lee Chan-hee, Chairman of Samsung Compliance Committee (center), speaking before entering the temporary Compliance Committee meeting held on the morning of the 16th at Samsung Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Moon Chae-seok]

The Compliance Committee's recommendations are not legally binding obligations that Samsung's board of directors must follow. However, if any Samsung affiliate engages in management activities contrary to the committee's recommendations, it must be disclosed after going through the board of directors. Therefore, the committee's decision is considered highly significant, almost equivalent to confirming Samsung's rejoining, according to consensus in the business community.

The FKI plans to handle agenda items such as absorbing and integrating the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) under its umbrella and renaming itself as the Korea Economic Association (KEA) at an extraordinary general meeting on the 22nd. In Samsung's case, five affiliates?Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, and Samsung Securities?are members of KERI. If the FKI changes its name to KEA, absorbs and integrates KERI, and transfers the membership list at the extraordinary general meeting, these five major affiliates can rejoin KEA.

The boards of directors of the five affiliates, considered the final hurdle for Samsung's rejoining along with the Compliance Committee's second temporary meeting, are expected to convene before the FKI's extraordinary general meeting. Previously, Samsung's five affiliates' Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) held three meetings and, after reporting to each company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), agreed to dissolve KERI. They stated that automatic succession of KERI membership will be decided after discussions by the boards and the Compliance Committee.

If Samsung's rejoining of the FKI materializes, there is speculation in the business community that the other four major groups?SK, Hyundai Motor, and LG?will follow suit. For the four major groups to return to the FKI, all affiliates of Samsung's five companies (members of KERI), SK (SK Inc., SK Innovation, SK Telecom, SK Networks), Hyundai Motor (Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Construction, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Steel), and LG (LG Corp., LG Electronics) must decide to rejoin before the FKI's extraordinary general meeting. Recently, there have also been reports that the POSCO Group is considering rejoining the FKI.

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