Samsung's heir apparent begins work on overseas operations

(ATTN: UPDATES throught with quotes, details; CHANGES headline)
SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- The only son of former Samsung Group chairman Lee
Kun-hee quietly started his work on overseas operations Monday after resigning as
a senior executive of the group's flagship Samsung Electronics Co.
The reassignment of Lee Jae-yong to China came less than a week after an
appellate court in Seoul upheld a lower court's ruling that gave a suspended
prison term to his father on charges of tax evasion.
Officials at Samsung say the 40-year-old Lee will play a role of "exploring
emerging markets" for the group, but some local commentators view the move as a
chance for him to win credibility and distance himself from allegations of
governance abuses in the wake of a corruption scandal early this year.
In April, the senior Lee, 66, stepped down from the helm of Samsung, South
Korea's most powerful business conglomerate, after being charged by a special
prosecutor with tax evasion and breach of trust.
Jae-yong simultaneously quit as a chief customer officer at Samsung Electronics,
a role which included responsibility for supervising deals with the company's
major clients like Apple Computer and Microsoft.
Despite the senior Lee's departure, nobody believes the Lee family has lost its
grip on the conglomerate because it controls Samsung affiliates through a complex
web of cross shareholdings.
For instance, the junior Lee is the second-largest shareholder of Samsung
Everland Inc., the group's de facto holding company that holds an influential
stake in Samsung Life Insurance. In turn, Samsung Life is the biggest shareholder
of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the sprawling conglomerate.
The junior Lee left for Japan earlier in the day and will move to the Chinese
city of Shanghai this weekend, his first place of work, an official at Samsung
Electronics said.
"Although he will be based in Shanghai, but he will tour to Southeast Asian
markets, including Thailand," the company official said.
The official said it's uncertain how long the junior Lee will work for overseas
operations.
While it was not the first time that Samsung was mired into corruption charges,
the impact from the latest scandal has been unprecedented because it was
unearthed by the group's former legal attorney.
As a result of the latest legal fray, many of the senior Lee's chief lieutenants
left and the group dismantled its Strategic Planning Office, a key intra-group
organization that coordinates Samsung's vast number of affiliates.
Instead of the charismatic chairman Lee, who oversaw Samsung's rise in the global
corporate world over the past 20 years, a seven-member committee led by a Samsung
Electronics vice chairman, Lee Yoon-woo, is now deciding key issues such as
investment and other projects. The two Lees aren't related.
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