Jailed Samsung’s Board Chairman Resigns

On Friday, South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics (005930) announced its board chairman Lee Sang-hoon, has resigned hence leaving a vacuum in that position.

In a statement Samsung assured it will appoint a new chairman in the future. The company is expected to hold a shareholders meeting next month, it is believed this matter will be among its top agenda.

Back in December, the embattled chairman was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for sabotaging the activities of labor unions.

The chairman together with 25 others were convicted for breaking labor union laws, the court said they used multiple tactics to target union operations, including closing sub-contracted firms with active unions.

Additionally, the prosecutor said among other tactics used by Lee Sang-hoon included seeking out sensitive information concerning union members thereafter blackmailing them to leave, he was also delaying negotiations between management and labor unions.

On the other hand, Samsung’s vice chairman and chairman’s son, Jay Y. Lee is facing trial on allegations that he issued a bribe to a friend of South Korea’s former President Park Geun-hye so as to be favored by the government during succession planning of the multi-billion company.