Samsung Electronics’ Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited Samsung Research – Samsung’s R&D hub for its SET business – last week to urge employees to work towards the future by focusing on unprecedented, next generation technologies.
“Uncertainties abound, but I hope we can create a new future by working together and mounting new challenges,” said Lee in his first official or publicized message since the Supreme Court ruling last month overturning a lower court that suspended his sentence for taking bribes from impeached former president Park Geun-hye.
Lee also met with researchers and experts at Samsung Research to discuss key R&D projects and next generation technologies.
“Today’s Samsung is the future that never seemed possible. We must open a new future with never-seen-before technologies,” he said.
Samsung Research is an R&D organization for Samsung’s SET products. In a total of 22 research labs around the world, the organization employs around 10,000 experts to conduct research on fourth industrial revolution-based technologies.
Lee was flanked by executives including Samsung Electronics CEO Kim Hyun-suk who concurrently heads Samsung Research, Samsung Electronics’ IM division R&D head and CEO Roh Tae-moon, along with Jeon Kyung-hoon, vice president of the network division.
Last year, Samsung Electronics outlined plans for investing 25 trillion won into nurturing future industries such as AI, 5G networks and automobile semiconductors.
In regards to AI, Samsung established research centers in South Korea, the US, the UK, Russia and Canada last year. It also recruited globally renowned experts such as professors Sebastian Seung of Princeton University, Wei Gu-yeon of Harvard University and Daniel Lee of Cornell University.
Since resuming managerial duties in 2018 following the suspension of his sentence, Lee Jae-yong has been roaming the world to meet with experts and scholars to discuss how Samsung can adapt and lead in the age of the fourth industrial revolution.
The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.