Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Chung Hyun-ho (Newsis)
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Chung Hyun-ho (Newsis)

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Chung Hyun-ho, a longtime confidant and “right-hand man” to Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, is stepping back from frontline management as the company reorganizes its de facto management coordination unit.

Samsung said Friday that Chung, who has led the Business Support Taskforce, will relinquish his role and remain at the company as a senior advisor to Lee.

The taskforce — created in late 2017 after Samsung disbanded its powerful Future Strategy Office in the wake of a national corruption scandal — will be reorganized into a permanent body called the Business Support Office, the company said.

Samsung President Park Hark-kyu will head the new office, while President Choi Yoon-ho will lead the strategy team, Executive Vice President Joo Chang-hoon the management diagnosis team and Executive Vice President Moon Hee-dong the people team.

"The TF has been operating for years and this change simply makes it a regular office," a Samsung official said. The official also stressed that the new office is "much smaller" than the former Future Strategy Office and is "unrelated" to the idea of reviving any control tower.

Chung's exit is seen as a symbolic leadership transition, as he has long been regarded as Lee's closest aid — overseeing personnel decisions, business coordination and crisis management during pivotal moments in Samsung's recent history.

Having joined Samsung's international finance division early in his career, Chung rose through the ranks to hold key posts including head of the management group, strategy planning and digital imaging division.

After the Future Strategy Office was shut down in early 2017, he briefly left the company before returning that same year to lead the newly formed Business Support TF.


herim@heraldcorp.com