Samsung Names Non-Executive Director As Board Chair

Samsung Electronics has named one of its key non-executive directors, Park Jae-wan, as its new board chair, the company announced following a board meeting Friday.

Park’s predecessor, Lee Sang-hoon, resigned last week following his conviction for breaking labour union laws.

Park Jae-wan has been a non-executive director of Samsung since March 2016, and previously served as South Korea’s Minister of Strategy of Finance from 2011 to 2013. He also currently heads the board’s audit and governance committees.

It is the first time a non-executive director has been chosen to head Samsung Electronics’ board. The company said the appointment would “increase the board’s independence and management transparency”.

The South Korean tech giant also proposed to have its TV boss Han Jong-hee and CFO Yoon Ho Choi be appointed as executive directors.

Their appointments are awaiting approval at Samsung’s annual shareholder’s meeting on March 18.

Samsung’s TV business has been performing well with Han at the helm — sales for QLED TVs doubled in 2019 compared to the year prior — and Choi has been the company’s CFO since the annual reshuffle earlier this year.

They will replace Lee Sang-hoon, who was an executive director before and Samsung vice chairman, and de facto leader JY Lee, who didn’t extend his term as executive director in October last year due to his ongoing corruption trial.―ZD Net