A shareholder of Samsung Electronics Co. receives a temperature check before entering the company’s shareholder meeting at a convention center in Suwon, south of Seoul, on March 18, 2020. (Yonhap)
SUWON, March 18 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker, on Wednesday held its annual shareholders’ meeting here with strict health checks amid the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
Samsung said only about 400 individual shareholders attended the meeting at a convention center in Suwon, south of Seoul, a sharp decline from last year’s attendance of around 1,000 people.
To prevent the novel coronavirus infections, all Samsung shareholders were ordered to undergo fever checks, fill out health questionnaires and wear masks inside the building.
Those who showed virus symptoms were denied entry into the main hall of the shareholder meeting and advised to watch it on a live broadcast in a separate room, according to Samsung.
Samsung installed seven thermal imaging cameras at building entrances, while three doctors and seven nurses were dispatched to take care of possible emergency situations.
The company said it also prepared a negative-pressure tent and four ambulances.
Individual shareholders of Samsung Electronics Co. attend the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting at a convention center in Suwon, south of Seoul, on March 18, 2020. (Yonhap)
The South Korean tech titan said the number of shareholders attending the meeting may have also dropped after the company introduced an electronic voting system this year.
In its letter sent to shareholders earlier this month, Samsung encouraged its shareholders to actively participate in e-voting following concerns of COVID-19 infections.
Meanwhile, Samsung shareholders approved the appointment of two internal executives as board members at the meeting.
Han Jong-hee, president of Samsung’s visual display business, and Choi Yoon-ho, who heads the company’s business support task force, will serve as the company’s new board of directors members.
(Yonhap)
