SAMSUNG Electronics chairman Lee
Kun-hee has been hospitalised after suffering a heart attack.
The 72-year-old chairman of the world’s
biggest smartphone maker had trouble breathing on Saturday and was
sent to an emergency room. He was found to be suffering cardiac
arrest and hospital staff performed CPR. He is currently undergoing
treatment at Samsung Medical Centre.
According to the hospital, his heart
condition has improved and he is in recovery.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship of
the Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate of companies.
After Lee took over the group from his
father in 1987, he played an instrumental part in building the
electronics arm up into a global company which now sells the whole
range of electronic products from semiconductor components to
appliances.
Samsung is run by three co-chief
executives, but insiders say Lee makes the final decisions when it
comes to key strategies affecting the company.
Analysts
say Lee’s health problems come during a time when Samsung Electronics
is experiencing slow growth in its mobile unit. In Q1 2014, the
mobile business of Samsung Electronics declined in operating profit
for the first time in more than three years. The company on the whole
is looking for a new growth market beyond its mobile and chip
businesses.