08.29/.....Samsung Chief Faces Busy Schedule in U.S.

[신동아]

Samsung Chief Faces Busy Schedule in U.S.

Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee will kill two birds with one stone when

he visits to the U.S. in September, attending what the company bills as a

“strategic meeting for localized management” to look around U.S. companies and

seek out future strategies. His entourage will include many of the group’s

leadership. Lee is chiefly going to receive the Van Fleet Award on Sept. 19 by the

Korea Society for his contribution to enhancing Seoul-Washington relations.

Lee will be accompanied by Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Hak-soo,

director of the corporate restructuring office Kim In-ju, Samsung Electronics vice

chairman Yoon Jong-yong, semiconductor division chief Hwang Chang-kyu and

other group executives, and his wife Hong Ra-hee and his son and vice

president of Samsung Electronics Lee Jae-yong, a group spokesman said. The

chairman of Korea’s biggest conglomerate will take a look around the U.S., the

group’s single largest market, and see for himself what is happening there in the

world’s advanced IT industry as well as take part in the award ceremony, he

added. Pundits expect say Lee to tour industrial sites including the group’s

factory in Austin, Texas, meet with leaders of the U.S. IT industry and electronics

gurus to listen to their thoughts on global trends.

“Lee has to go to the U.S. himself because the Van Fleet Award is only given to

the recipient himself, not someone else representing him,” a group staffer said.

There have been fears that Lee is leaving Korea to dodge ongoing inquiries into

suspicions that he attempted to pass on the group leadership to his son by

underhand means.