Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, embroiled in a bribery scandal, on Wednesday made a rare apology over controversial succession plans and said he will not hand over management rights to his children at the family-controlled conglomerate. His first public statement in five years came after the Supreme Court in August overturned an appeals court ruling on the bribery case, raising the possibility of a tougher sentence and potential return to jail for the chief of South Korea's biggest conglomerate.
"We failed, at times, to meet society's expectations. We even disappointed people and caused concern because we did not strictly uphold the law and ethical standards," the 51-year-old Lee told a press conference at the company's Seoul office.
He also apologised for the behaviour of executives caught sabotaging labour union activities, and vowed to guarantee labour rights at the tech giant.
Some of Samsung Group's former and current executives have been investigated or convicted in other cases. For example, then-board chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd , Lee Sang-hoon, was jailed in December for sabotaging union activities. He has since resigned and lodged an appeal.
Lee's remarks come after Samsung Group's oversight panel in March advised him to apologise over the handling of succession, labour and others issues, and pledge to prevent any repeat of governance violations.
In January, Samsung set up the compliance committee after a judge overseeing Lee's bribery case criticised the conglomerate for its lack of an effective compliance system to prevent executive wrongdoing.
However, the committee, headed by a former supreme court judge, has faced scepticism from governance experts who called it a gesture aimed more towards securing leniency in court.
"Both apology and promise are vague. He did not specifically address what he has done wrong," said Kim Woo-chan, a professor of finance at Korea University Business School.
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