Kim Jong-hoon, a Korean-American tech entrepreneur who served as president of Bell Labs, will join the board of directors, Samsung Electronics said in a regulatory filing. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday it has chosen a former head of Bell Labs as one of its new outside directors in an apparent move to enhance transparency at the South Korean tech giant.
Kim Jeong-hoon, a Korean-American tech entrepreneur who served as president of Bell Labs, will join the board of directors, Samsung Electronics said in a regulatory filing.
The decision was reached in a Samsung Electronics’ board meeting earlier in the day — the first since its Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was released from prison earlier this month.
Lee had been locked up for nearly a year over a bribery scandal that led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye. Lee did not attend the board meeting, according to the company.
Kim’s appointment is subject to endorsement at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting, which is set for March 23.
In 2016, Samsung Electronics said it will name an entrepreneur of a global company as a board director to better serve shareholders’ interests.
Kim joined Lucent Technologies in 1998 when Lucent acquired Yurie Systems, Inc., a technology equipment firm which he founded in 1992, for around US$1 billion.
In 2013, Kim was nominated as science minister by then-President Park, but eventually withdrew his name from consideration due to displeasure over a parliamentary deadlock.
Currently, Kim is chairman and co-founder of Kiswe Mobile, a U.S.-based tech startup that provides live media solutions to sports and entertainment content owners.
Also Friday, Samsung Electronics named Kim Sun-uk, a former president of Ewha Womans University, as a new board member. Kim is the first woman to be appointed to the board of Samsung Electronics.
Also joining the board is Park Byung-gook, a professor in the Department, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University.
(Yonhap)
