Heir appointed as Samsung executive chairman despite corruption scandal

Lee Jae-yong has been appointed executive chairman of Samsung (Han Sang-kyun/Yonhap via AP)

Samsung Electronics has officially appointed third-generation heir Lee Jae-yong as executive chairman, two months after he secured a pardon of his conviction for bribing a former president in a corruption scandal that toppled a previous South Korean government.

Mr Lee’s promotion is partially symbolic as he has led the Samsung group in his capacity as the electronics company’s vice chairman since 2014, when his late father, former chairman Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack.