Samsung Group chairman Kun-hee Lee is reportedly recovering at a Samsung Medical Center in Seoul following a heart attack over the weekend.
According to a report in the Korea JoongAng Daily, the 72-year-old was taken to the Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital in Seoul after suffering breathing difficulties on Saturday.
After receiving ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) treatment in intensive care, Lee was transferred to Samsung Medical Center in Irwon-dong where he remains in a stable condition. The report also notes Lee was hospitalised for 10 days last year with “pneumonia symptoms”.
Kun-hee Lee, who took over as chairman of Samsung Group from his father in 1987, is largely credited with transforming the management culture of the chaebol, transforming it into one of the world’s largest financial, industrial and electronics groups.
The news comes less than a month after a series of restructurings at Samsung Group companies seen by some analysts as strengthening the Lee family’s hold over the Samsung empire.
The moves saw Kun-hee Lee’s daughters, Boo-jin Lee and Seo-hyun Lee, take over the group’s hotel, heavy industries, fashion and media businesses, with son and Samsung Group vice chairman Jay-yong Lee overseeing its electronics and finance affiliates.
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
