SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's antitrust chief said on Thursday that South Korea's No. 1 conglomerate Samsung (LON:0593xq) Group's (SAGR.UL) current ownership structure is not sustainable.
Korea Fair Trade Commission chief Kim Sang-jo told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with business leaders that Samsung's current ownership structure, resting on circular shareholding between companies such as Samsung C&T (KS:028260), Samsung Life Insurance (KS:032830), and Samsung Electronics (KS:005930), was not sustainable.
"The clear fact is, the current ownership and control structure of Samsung Group, which goes from Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee to Samsung C&T to Samsung Life Insurance to Samsung Electronics, is not sustainable," said Kim.
Kim said he had called on Samsung Group heir and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee to make a decision concerning the ownership structure, adding that Lee had told him that he will think about it.