Response to ‘Implementation of public announcements such as abandonment of 4-year-old succession and protection of labor human rights’
Chairman Lee Chan-hee “I personally think we need a group control tower”
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the Samsung Compliance Committee (Compliance Committee) after 1 year and 9 months.
It is evaluated that the group has reaffirmed its commitment to law-abiding management.
It is known that he had a wide range of opinions with the members on the improvement of corporate governance and restoration of the group’s control tower in an atmosphere where Vice Chairman Lee’s inauguration as chairman was imminent.
According to the Samsung Compliance Committee on the 12th, Vice Chairman Lee had a meeting with the members prior to the regular meeting of the Compliance Committee held at the Samsung Life Insurance Seocho Tower in the afternoon.
The interview lasted for about an hour with all the members, including Chairman Lee Chan-hee, in attendance.
This is the first meeting between Vice Chairman Lee and the Compliance Committee since the establishment of the Compliance Committee in February of this year.
The Compliance Committee explained that it had asked Vice Chairman Lee to make efforts to prevent the risk of compliance violations from occurring and to pay attention to the establishment of a compliance culture within the company.
Vice Chairman Lee said, “We will faithfully implement the contents of the announcement to the public in 2020 and actively participate in fair and transparent compliance management and environmental, social and governance (ESG) management, which are the direction of the committee’s activities. We will also strengthen communication,” the Compliance Committee said.
Earlier, in a public announcement in 2020, Vice Chairman Lee expressed his intention to ‘renounce the management succession to the 4th generation’ by saying that he would not hand over the business to his children. come.
Vice Chairman Lee also emphasized, “We will cooperate as much as possible so that the Compliance Committee can continue to operate with independence.”
Chairman Lee Chan-hee, who met with reporters after the meeting of the Compliance Committee, said, “There was extensive discussion about the role and direction of the Compliance Committee.
We haven’t discussed any specifics,” he said.
He continued, “Since it was our first meeting, we talked about a wide range of directions and (Vice President Lee) listened to the members a lot.”
The Compliance Committee was launched in February 2020 after the Supreme Court of Vice-Chairman Lee’s National Nongdan case ordered the establishment of Samsung’s internal compliance monitoring system.
Externally, it is an independent organization that does not receive instructions from Samsung.
The 2nd Compliance Committee selected ‘Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Management through Governance Improvement’ as one of the three major tasks to be pursued, and is working to improve the Samsung Group’s governance structure.
Although the details of the interview were not disclosed, it seems that discussions were held on the restoration of the group’s control tower and ways to improve the governance structure.
In 2017, Samsung abolished the Future Strategy Office, which was the group’s control tower, in 2017, and supported the current business (Samsung Electronics), financial competitiveness enhancement (Samsung Life Insurance), EPC (design, procurement, construction) competitiveness enhancement (Samsung C&T), etc. There are three task forces (TF) in operation for each division.
Amid the recent deterioration of the semiconductor industry, the main industry, and fierce competition for future food products such as biotechnology, opinions from inside and outside the group that it is necessary to form a control tower that oversees the group have been raised in order to make large-scale investment decisions such as large-scale M&A and establish mid- to long-term strategies. is becoming
However, the role of the Compliance Committee to monitor the situation has become more important as it may be pointed out that the past, which had been criticized for being a link between politics and business, is reviving as an organization under the direct control of the head of state.
In addition to the abolition of the unfinished office in 2017, concerns about the reversal of the self-management system of affiliates included in the management reform plan should also be resolved.
When asked by reporters whether the group’s control tower restoration was necessary, Chairman Lee Chan-hee said, “I think it is necessary in my personal beliefs,” but “personal opinion and the opinion of the committee are completely separate.”
“The chairperson cannot control the committee,” he said.
(Relating to the control tower) has not yet been discussed and no conclusion has been reached,” he added.
Meetings with the Compliance Committee are expected to become regular in the future.
Earlier, in a meeting in January last year, Vice Chairman Lee decided to hold meetings with the Compliance Committee on a regular basis, stating that he would take full responsibility for the effectiveness and sustainability of the Compliance Committee, but no further interviews were held as he was imprisoned in the National Nongdan case. didn’t
Chairman Lee explained, “We will make (interviews) regular in the future.” “But it’s not like this once every few months, but because we didn’t see each other often because of the corona virus in the first phase, we can meet more often and meet whenever we need to.”
On the other hand, there are also interpretations that Vice Chairman Lee met with the Compliance Committee for the first time since the Liberation Day special amnesty and served as a preliminary greeting before taking office as chairman.
At the end of the interview, it is said that the preparatory work for the inauguration of the president has been virtually completed.
After the special amnesty on the Liberation Day, Vice Chairman Lee expanded his stride by taking the lead in management by visiting domestic and overseas business sites of major affiliates such as Samsung Electronics one after another.
The day before, I visited the Songdo Bio Campus in Incheon for the first time in 7 years and looked around the 4th factory of Samsung Biologics.
Vice Chairman Lee joined Samsung Electronics in 1991 with the rank of general manager, and has been holding the title for 10 years after being promoted to vice chairman in December 2012 at the age of 44.
Among the heads of the four major groups, Vice Chairman Lee is the only one who did not have the title of chairman.
As for the inauguration period, the second anniversary of the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee on the 25th, Samsung Electronics’ founding anniversary on November 1st, and December, the regular personnel season for the presidents, are mentioned.
There is also mention of a plan to appoint the title of chairman as he becomes a registered executive after the regular general meeting of shareholders in March next year.
However, there is also an analysis that there is no reason to rush to take office as the Fair Trade Commission in 2018 changed the Samsung Group’s head (the same person) to Vice Chairman Lee for the first time in 30 years in 2018. .
/yunhap news