Samsung group announces massive investment plans

SEOUL: South Korea's biggest business group, Samsung, on Monday unveiled massive investment plans a week after its chairman announced his shock resignation from all group posts.

The group said its 59 affiliates would invest a total of 27.8 trillion won (27.9 billion dollars) for this year to enhance growth potential and develop new businesses.

The amount of this year's investment is the largest ever for the group and is up 24 percent from 22.4 trillion won invested in 2007, it said.

The group said its investment would account for about 30 percent of the total money poured into 600 top domestic corporations in 2008. Samsung companies will also plan to hire 20,500 new employees, up 28 percent from a year ago, it said.

The scandal-tainted group now employs 200,000 people and accounted for more than 20 percent of the nation's exports last year.

Samsung Electronics, the group's flagship, last week unveiled plans to invest seven trillion won in its memory chip division this year, of which 1.5 trillion will be earmarked for its US semiconductor factory in Austin, Texas.

It also said it would invest 1.8 trillion won to build a new LCD line at its plant operated jointly with Sony Corp. south of Seoul in Tangjeong.

In a separate move on Monday, group chairman Lee Kun-Hee officially stepped down as chairman of Samsung Electronics, the world's largest computer chip maker.

Lee last week announced his shock resignation from all group posts after special prosecutors mounting an inquiry into alleged corruption charged him with tax evasion and breach of trust.

"As of today, Lee officially resigned as chairman of our company as he promised," Samsung Electronics spokesman James Chung told media.

Samsung Electronics is the world's top maker of computer chips and LCDs and the second-largest mobile phone maker.