By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff reporter
Samsung Group, the nation's biggest conglomerate, is planning to create a new unit focusing on better communication with foreign consumers and media outlets.
"Samsung will launch the 'Global Communications Group' as part of its corporate strategy to strengthen and diversify communication channels with consumers through foreign media," a group spokesman Kenneth Hong said.
This is the first time Samsung has given full authority to handle foreign media to an independent unit.
Samsung Group and Samsung Electronics employ some staff members to deal with overseas media. But their roles are limited.
Lee Kun-hyuck, a senior executive of Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI), will lead the new team, according to the spokesman.
Lee, who formerly handled Korea’s macro-economic issues at the finance ministry, has been working for Samsung since June 2005.
The team leader worked as a senior researcher of the Asia-Pacific region at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and was a chief economist at the U.S.-based investment bank JP Morgan between 1999 and 2002 before his tour of duty at the ministry.
Hong said the group is in the final stages of hiring necessary personnel. Initial staff members would number around 10 and currently two foreign media reporters have been hired.
"As far as I know, the new unit will be tasked to handle various group-related issues," a Samsung official said.
Last year, Samsung Electronics, the group's critical earnings driver, reported 136 trillion won ($110 billion) in total sales on a consolidated basis by an international accounting measurement, including the performances of overseas affiliates. Contributing to the total, 89 percent came from overseas.
"Samsung is trying to improve its communication with foreign media and communicate more with consumers," another Samsung official said.
Since Lee Kun-hee made a comeback as Samsung Electronics chairman in March, Samsung Group has been smoothly adopting new channels of communication, using tweets and blogs, for instance.
Even Samsung announced the return of chairman Lee on its twitter account.
The conglomerate has also since opened some social networking accounts ― @samsungin, @samsungtomorrow and www.samsungblogs.com.
"The launch of the new unit has a symbolic meaning for Samsung. Samsung is a global firm and it requires better communication channels," said Lee Jong-su, a media critic at Hanyang University.
"Samsung's key executives have reached a broad consensus that even unsavory allegations are hurting its brand recognition and some negative stories about it were partly due to poor management of overseas media," the Samsung official said.
"Samsung Group has so far been driving to strengthen 'open communication' management via active and transparent messages. We need to let foreign media and other interested parties know more about our business activities with unbiased views," Hong of Samsung said.