Samsung Electronics head urges anti-graft drive

SEOUL: Corruption has spread throughout South Korea's largest business group Samsung, the head of its flagship firm said on Thursday, vowing to lead a clean-up.

The warning from Lee Kun-Hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, came a day after an inspection into a group subsidiary found unspecified irregularities which led to the resignation of its CEO.

Oh Chang-Suk stepped down Wednesday as chief of Samsung Techwin, a defence and precision machinery unit, after Lee chided group subsidiaries for lack of oversight against corruption.

"Corruption and fraud at Samsung Techwin came to light only accidentally but I think it has spread throughout the whole group," Lee told journalists Thursday, blaming a complacent attitude during the past decade.

"This is a growing source of concern for me and I'm going to take issue with it," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

Answering a question about corruption in the group, Lee said it includes taking bribes and hospitality from suppliers. But he said the "worst type" of abuse was pressure on junior staff to commit corrupt acts.

At a weekly executive meeting Wednesday, Lee deplored the fact that the group's "clean corporate culture" had been tarnished and urged the eradication of irregularities, the group's spokesman said.

He called for appropriate penalties against wrongdoers and ordered executives to strengthen the auditing team.

Details about what prompted the internal inspection of Samsung Techwin remain unknown.

Lee Yin-Yong, head of the group's communication team, said Wednesday that Oh Chang-Suk was not directly involved but he resigned to take responsibility.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011