ed Samsung's half victory

Heir has to earn other half by proving he is worth job

Samsung Group has cleared a significant barrier to its planned transition of power.

The conglomerate's heir Lee Jae-yong is now in control of the firm after the merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, which will serve as the de facto holding firm with annual sales of 34 trillion won.

Come September, the new firm will be launched and Lee will also acquire a 4-percent stake in Samsung Electronics, worth about 8 trillion won, thereby boosting his grip on the crown jewel of the business empire.

But Lee should always bear in mind how he has come this far. He is taking over from his father Lee Kun-hee, who was incapacitated after a heart attack more than a year ago.

Facing an attempt by U.S. hedge fund Elliott Associates to disrupt the merger over the past two months, Corporate Korea was discombobulated by memories of similar challenges and the entire nation had to come to Samsung's rescue with a strong show of patriotism.

For that, a big price is being paid on a national scale.

Foreign investors have more doubts about the rules of business in Korea, causing a great deal of damage to our globalization efforts.

As a matter of fact, the Elliott fund, which is less shareholder activist than corporate raider, was right on the money, pricking a needle where Samsung was most vulnerable.

It's an open question whether, without its intrusion, Samsung would have paid attention to boosting minority shareholders' rights, increasing dividends and strengthening corporate governance.

Lex Column in the Financial Times captured the spirit of foreign investors when it said that in Korea "The big guys always win."

It portrayed Elliot’s defeat as one of Korea’s corporate ills that has not been addressed even after the 1998 currency crisis that sent the entire business world into chaos and resulted in the demise of large firms, some chaebol firms included.

It's a painful reminder that Korea is not seen as up to par as far as global standards are concerned and the nation could go further adrift from the center of the global business.

Thus, as leader of the nation's biggest corporation and the world's top tech firm, the junior Lee has his work set out for him.

For starters, he should stop running Samsung like a family business.

This requires transparency in its corporate decision-making process, meaning he also will be held accountable for whatever decisions he will make.

That fits the worldwide company his father always dreamt about and will set the standard for other firms to follow.

It is also the least he can do to live up to the national backing made to secure his job last Friday.

The next time Samsung under his control calls for help, don't expect the same level of support. That's the deal.