Samsung Officially Apologizes for Unauthorized Access to Donation Records of Civic Groups

Samsung "Admits It Was an Absolutely Unacceptable Mistake... Management Will Take Responsibility and Prevent Recurrence"
Compliance Oversight Committee "Expresses Strong Concern, Urges Sincere Apology and Recurrence Prevention" First Recommendation
Samsung Compliance Management Expected to Accelerate

Photo by Samsung Logo

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Samsung Group has officially apologized for unauthorized access to the ‘employee donations to civic organizations’ records by the former Future Strategy Office. This marks the first apology following the recommendation of the Samsung Compliance Committee, newly established as part of Samsung’s compliance management efforts. Samsung is expected to further accelerate its compliance management as a result.

On the 28th, 17 Samsung affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, issued an official apology to employees and civic organizations for the unauthorized access to donation records by the former Future Strategy Office.

The Samsung affiliates jointly apologizing include Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Display, Samsung SDS, Samsung C&T, Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung Engineering, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Card, Samsung Securities, Hotel Shilla, Cheil Worldwide, S-1 Corporation, Samsung Economic Research Institute, and Samsung Medical Center.

Samsung acknowledged that “this was a clear wrongdoing that should never have happened” and apologized to the employees and the civic organizations and individuals who had been labeled as ‘subversive groups.’ Samsung pledged, “We will take full responsibility starting from management, establish countermeasures, and thoroughly and sincerely implement them to fundamentally change our internal structure and culture to prevent recurrence.”

Furthermore, Samsung expressed deep remorse, stating, “We painfully recognize that the lack of communication with society contributed significantly to misunderstandings and distrust, which led to this incident. Moving forward, we will actively communicate and engage with civic organizations to meet the expectations of the public and society.”

Previously, in May 2013, the Future Strategy Office had labeled some progressive civic organizations as subversive groups and unauthorizedly compiled a list of employees who donated to these organizations. This was revealed by a media report late last year. However, Samsung affiliates reportedly stated that they were unaware of the circumstances or contents of the problematic document at the time and had never received the document itself. The Future Strategy Office was disbanded in February 2017 amid allegations of involvement in the state affairs manipulation scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil (later renamed Choi Seo-won).

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@

Samsung’s apology and commitment to prevent recurrence follow the recommendation of the Samsung Compliance Committee (Chairman: former Supreme Court Justice Ji-hyung Kim), which officially launched earlier this month. At its second regular meeting on the 13th, the Compliance Committee expressed strong concern over the unauthorized access incident and urged a sincere apology and measures to prevent recurrence. The committee reportedly advised Samsung that “a genuine apology is crucial for Samsung to be respected and loved by the public.”

With the management of Samsung affiliates accepting the Compliance Committee’s opinion and officially apologizing to the victims, compliance management?set as a key theme for this year?is expected to accelerate. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jae-yong Lee visited the Hwaseong plant in January as his first New Year’s activity, expressing his commitment to compliance management by stating, “Let us boldly discard wrong practices and mindsets and pioneer a new future.” Since then, Samsung has established the Compliance Committee and elevated the status of compliance committees within each affiliate. Notably, on the 21st of this month, Samsung Electronics appointed former Minister of Strategy and Finance Jae-wan Park as the first outside director to chair both the Governance Committee and the Audit Committee, and also as the chairman of the board.