Samsung Emergency

Vice Chairman of Samsung Lee Jae-yong, son of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Vice Chairman of Samsung Lee Jae-yong, son of Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

 

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s stay in the hospital has lengthened. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s management ability is likely to be put to the test with the chairman’s comeback becoming less and less sure. The Chairman was carried to the Samsung Medical Center in Ilwon-dong, Seoul in the night of May 10 for a sudden cardiac infarction. 

The top management of the Samsung Group held a regular Wednesday meeting at the main office as usual in the morning of May 14. Head of the Future Strategy Office Choi Ji-sung and others appeared earlier than usual. “Chairman Lee is in a stable recovery,” he said. 

The Chairman underwent CPR on May 11 and a low-temperature treatment on the following days before showing a normal temperature at around 2p.m. on the 13th. However, it seems that more time will be taken for him to regain consciousness. 

“The cardiac functions and brainwaves are now very stable as a result of the low-temperature treatment,” the medical center explained, continuing, “For his perfect and safe recovery, we will continue sedation for a while, administering the sedative while maintaining his sleeping state.”

Industry insiders, though feeling relieved, worry about the possibility of any damage to his mental faculties. The continuation of the procedural sedation is regarded as a measure to minimize the possibility preventing a sudden physical burden. 

Under the circumstances, the Chairman is expected to not be able to participate in the management of the Samsung Group as he did, even after regaining consciousness, and his son Lee Jae-yong is likely to come to the fore. The son, in fact, has shown an increased presence since last year. At the same time, the groundwork for corporate succession appears to have been completed in the key subsidiaries such as Samsung Electronics and Samsung Life Insurance. The gain of their shares after the hospitalization is evidence. Foreign news channels like the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and Forbes are already taking note of the Vice Chairman.

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