NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

Samsung Electronics says it earned an operating profit of 10.85 trillion won in the third quarter, which is down nearly 31.4 percent from the same period last year. The tech giant explained that the drop is attributable to a falling profit from the memory chip business. However, its total sales increased nearly 3.8 percent year on year to top 76.7 trillion won, the larges it has posted in a third quarter.
Samsung Electronics' de factor leader Lee Jae-yong has been promoted to chairman a decade after he became vice chairman in 2012. His promotion was approved at a meeting of the company's board of directors this morning. The board said it endorsed Lee's promotion, since quick and bold decision making is needed to boost responsibility and stability in management with global business conditions worsening.
South Korean companies running factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex are demanding due compensation for the losses they have suffered from the prolonged suspension of the inter-Korean joint venture. In a press conference held earlier this day, the association of the companies urged the government and National Assembly to legislate a special act that guarantees full compensation for their losses. They insisted that it is the government' responsibility to compensate them if it cannot promise the resumption of the Kaesong industrial park.