Lee Jae Yong Joins Samsung Board, Officially Appointed as Member of the Board of Directors

Lee Jae Yong joins Samsung board. The heir to Korea's top electronics company was officially appointed as a member of the company's Board of Directors. The appointment of Lee Jae Yong was approved by the company's shareholders as Samsung Electronics reported. The appointment happened in an extraordinary general meeting held at the company's Seocho office building in Seoul last Thursday, October 27, 2016.

It was already expected that Vice Chairman Lee will sooner or later replace his father, Chairman Lee Kun Hee, in taking full responsibility of the company's business management since the later was hospitalized on 2014 due to a heart attack. Now that Lee Jae Yong joins Samsung board, the younger Lee was expected to provide leadership to Samsung Electronics on behalf of his father and to further take the company to the next higher level.

"The board of directors determined that we cannot postpone Vice Chairman Lee's appointment  as board director and his official participation in business management in order to deal with rapid changes in the business environment and achieve sustainable growth," Kwon Oh Hyun, Samsung Electronics Co-Vice Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, reported.

Lee Jae Yong studied Oriental History at Seoul National University and later earned his master's degree and doctorate from Japan's Keio University and Harvard Business School respectively. It was 1991 when he finally joined Samsung Electronics and was promoted to vice presidency 21 years after. Now that the 48-year-old heir to Korea's largest conglomerate officially joins the board, he was expected to fulfill his responsibilities and duties to help further solidify the company's global position.

The company had recently faced a major setback caused by the global recall and discontinuation of Galaxy Note 7. As Lee Jae Yong joins Samsung board, he is faced with the huge challenge of having the company's reputation restored.