Recent appointments and expanded duties appear to identify the FSO¡¯s duty as assisting Chairman Lee Kun-hee

By Kim Jae-seob, Senior Staff Writer¡¡

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The Samsung Group has stepped up the functions of the Future Strategy Office (FSO), a rebirth of the disbanded Strategic Planning Office (SPO), group that serves as its control tower.

Samsung announced Wednesday that it had instituted the position of deputy director just below that of the office¡¯s director and appointed communications team leader (president) Jang Chung-gi to the seat. Jang will be assisting Strategic Planning Office head Kim Soon-taek in his duties and executing them in his absence, including times when Kim is traveling with the chairman.

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee ordered reinforcement of the office and strengthening of its functions during a lunch meeting Tuesday with its team leaders.

Jang, who rises to second-in-command for the office with this placement, has experience working in the different offices that have performed the control tower function over the years, including the Secretariat, the Restructuring Headquarters, the SPO, and the current FSO. Vice Present Rhee In-yong will fill his previous position as communications team leader.

Regarding the reasons for creating the new post, Samsung said, ¡°With the chairman traveling regularly to the Seocho building to personally address major group issues, there has been an increase in the Future Strategy Office¡¯s duties, including assisting the chairman, supporting the affiliates on major issues, and locating new projects for the future. This necessitated a system for assisting the office¡¯s director.¡±

¡°As the most senior of the team leaders in the Future Strategy Office, Mr. Jang was appointed to the position,¡± Samsung explained.

Regarding the question of any other plans for future expansion of the office and its work force, Samsung said, ¡°Nothing has been decided yet. We will have to look at additional appointments.¡±

With this move, further weight has been given to the office, which was formed in December 2010 to carry on the work of the Strategic Planning Office, dismantled in June 2008 following the Samsung special prosecutor probe. In May, Lee Kun-hee gave orders to ¡°root out improprieties and corruption through a stronger inspection team¡± while receiving the report from a management diagnostic of Samsung Techwin. As a result, the rank of the management diagnostic team leader in charge of inspecting affiliates and investigating the management situation was upgraded from executive director to vice president, and a large personnel increase was effected.

Attention is focusing on whether there will be a change in the office¡¯s nature. Early on, it set the rule of focusing primarily on locating new projects for the future, taking a lesson from the ill effects of the Restructuring Headquarters and Strategic Planning Office, which previously ruled as ¡°power organizations¡± within the group.

But with Lee Kun-hee personally addressing issues this year and the group¡¯s function strengthening with the latest appointment, more weight is shifting to the office¡¯s role in assisting the chairman.

The system with Kim as director and Jang as vice-director also bears some similarities to the pairing of Director Lee Hak-soo and Vice Director Kim In-joo during the Restructuring Headquarters days. An executive at one Samsung affiliate said, ¡°It calls to mind the old days of the Restructuring Headquarters.¡±

Within Samsung, many observers are calling attention to Jang¡¯s appointment as vice director after serving in the secretariat, Restructuring Headquarters, SPO, and FPO. Some are questioning whether this marks the beginning of the groundwork not only for a third-generation transmission of management rights, the major issue within the group, but also bequeathal and affiliate spinoffs.

A Samsung official said, ¡°It is very likely that Kim Soon-taek will be focusing on external matters such as assisting and accompanying the chairman, and Mr. Jang will direct the succession effort while handling major affiliate matters.¡±

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