[New Year's Address] Han Jong-hee, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, "Let's Overcome the Wall of Limits Once Again"

Samsung Electronics Holds 2023 Opening Ceremony
Attended by Over 150 Key Executives and Employees

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] "Let's once again break through the wall of limits." Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee and President Kyung Kye-hyun urged employees to overcome limits and respond to crises on the first working day of the new year. This New Year's message clearly reflects the sense of crisis at Samsung Electronics, which has effectively entered emergency management due to the uncertain global economic environment.

On the morning of the 2nd, Samsung Electronics held the '2023 Opening Ceremony' at the 'Samsung Digital City' in Suwon. About 150 people, including the top two executives of Samsung Electronics, Vice Chairman Han and President Kyung, key management, and employees, attended the ceremony.

In a joint New Year's address, Vice Chairman Han and President Kyung said, "We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of domestic and overseas employees who have done their best in their respective positions despite difficult external conditions," and urged, "Let us take the past experience of soaring higher in times of crisis as a mirror and once again break through the wall of limits."

They also called for creating a turning point for leap forward through bold challenges and transformation. Vice Chairman Han emphasized, "How we respond to the current crisis will determine our future status and competitiveness," and added, "Let's renew our management structure and organizational culture, and take even bolder challenges and investments for the future."

He further stated, "Especially in difficult times, we must discover technologies that do not exist in the world and technologies that can change the world, and enhance quality, which is an absolute value that cannot be compromised," and stressed, "Let's win customers' hearts and provide differentiated experiences to fully secure technological competitiveness." He also promised, "The driving force to create a new history is all of you employees," and pledged, "We will do our best to build an open organizational culture based on ▲diversity ▲fairness ▲inclusion."

He also expressed commitment to practicing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. Vice Chairman Han said, "2023 is the inaugural year to fully implement the 'New Environmental Management Strategy,'" and added, "Let's actively nurture eco-friendly technologies as our future competitiveness and make using Samsung products a way to create a sustainable tomorrow." Finally, he concluded the New Year's address by saying, "Let's strictly comply with compliance guidelines at all domestic and overseas business sites and work hard to establish a culture of compliance."

The opening ceremony was broadcast live to all domestic business sites via a video conferencing system. Notably, this ceremony was made more meaningful by inviting the families of 'Samsung Masters,' the company's top technical experts, and recipients of the 'Annual Awards' for outstanding performance for the first time. The Samsung Master system certifies employees who have worked in one field for over 20 years, possessing artisan-level skills, know-how, outstanding abilities, and leadership, recognizing them as top experts. This year, a total of 11 employees were honored as Samsung Masters, including 9 from Samsung Electronics, 1 from Samsung Display, and 1 from Samsung SDI.