Han Jong-hee: "Contributing to Human Society through Talent and Technology"
Expresses Determination to Overcome Crisis Following Lee Jae-yong's 'Do-or-Die' Call
Semiconductor Experts Including Jeon Younghyun and Song Jaehyuk Join the Board
Han Jong-hee, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, emphasized securing growth engines by stating, "The more difficult the environment, the more we must return to basics and focus on the company's management philosophy of 'contributing to human society by creating the best products and services based on talent and technology'." This follows Chairman Lee Jae-yong's recent call for a "do-or-die determination," and is interpreted as a will to overcome the crisis by fundamentally securing technological competitiveness.
On the 19th, Han Jong-hee, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, is delivering a greeting at the 56th Samsung Electronics Annual General Meeting held at the Suwon Convention Center in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News.
On the 19th, at the '56th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders' held at the Suwon Convention Center in Gyeonggi Province, Vice Chairman Han said, "We will lay the foundation for a leap forward in existing businesses through ultra-gap technology leadership and continue new challenges such as robotics, medtech, and next-generation semiconductors to secure new growth engines for the future created by the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry."
In response to shareholders' criticism angered by the stock price decline, he promised to strengthen responsible management by expanding the 'stock compensation system' to general employees. He said, "To enhance shareholder value, we decided to repurchase 10 trillion won of treasury shares last November and completed the first phase by canceling 3 trillion won. We introduced the stock compensation system for executive performance bonuses and are reviewing plans to expand it to employees."
When asked about the "impact and response to the Trump administration's tariff policy," he explained, "We prepared response scenarios even before last year's U.S. presidential election and will wisely navigate tariff barriers based on production bases held in many regions worldwide," adding, "We are reviewing various alternatives regarding investment in the U.S."
At the meeting, key agenda items included approval of the financial statements and appointment of inside and outside directors. The new board composition focused on bringing in 'semiconductor experts.' This is interpreted as accepting criticism that there had been a high proportion of former economic bureaucrats and initiating a system reform to strengthen competitiveness in the semiconductor sector.
New inside directors appointed included Jeon Young-hyun, Head of the DS Division (Vice Chairman), and Song Jae-hyuk, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the DS Division and Head of the Semiconductor Research Institute (President), both originating from the 'development engineering' background. As outside directors, Lee Hyuk-jae, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University and Director of the Semiconductor Joint Research Institute, known as an AI and semiconductor expert, joined the board.
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