Only a few days after return to dual leadership: Samsung co-CEO dies
Less than a week after Samsung appointed a second CEO, Han Jong-hee, the longest-serving one, died of a heart attack.
(Image: Sundry Photography/Shutterstock.com)
Han Jong-hee, one of Samsung's two managing directors, has died of a heart attack at the age of 63. This was announced by the South Korean company on Tuesday. Han Jong-hee was the sole CEO until last week; Jun Young-hyun had only become CEO on March 19. He was previously head of the chip division. As the Korea Times reported, citing several sources, Han suffered the heart attack on Saturday after attending his daughter's wedding. He was then taken to a Samsung hospital, where he died on Tuesday morning.
Han had been with Samsung since 1988, the newspaper writes. There he held various management positions in the displays division and the television business, where he took over responsibility for research and development in 2011. In 2022, he became one of Samsung's managing directors, the second being Kyung Kye-hyun. At that time, Han Jong-hee also became Vice Chairman of the Group. He had been the sole CEO since 2024, but this changed a few days ago. With his death, Jun Young-hyun will now be solely responsible for the management of the giant corporation.
According to the Korea Times, Han was due to present a range of AI-powered household appliances on Wednesday, but a replacement has already been found. The manager saw AI technology as a way for Samsung to grow "sustainably" and pointed out that it is about how people actually interact with AI. He also aimed to strengthen the areas of medical technology, robotics, automotive components and environmentally friendly air conditioning systems at Samsung. He has now received much praise and recognition for his work in his 37 years with the company, the newspaper adds.
(mho)
