On September 15, Professor Paul Jobin in Université Paris Diderot’s Department of East Asian Studies, sent an open letter to his graduate school friend Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. The two are alumni of Keio Business School (KBS).
Professor Paul Jobin didn’t know vice chairman Lee Jae-yong’s e-mail address, so he sent the letter to Samsung Electronics’ business email account and also posted it on social networking sites in order to increase the chance of the letter being read by Lee Jae-yong.
“It’s been 20 years since we studied together in Keio Business School’s MBA program. I remember you as a kind, fair-minded and approachable person,” Professor Paul Jobin said at the beginning of the letter.
“I remember that I once asked you whether you would apply for a scholarship. Later, other students told me that your father is Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee. You didn’t try to impose yourself on others, so I didn’t get the sense that you were different from us,” Paul added.
“However, there is something that I’m not proud of you for,” Paul broached the issue of Samsung semiconductor workers with leukemia.
“I’ve learned through press reports that young workers died from cancer after working at Samsung semiconductor plants. Having learned of how your company treated those Samsung leukemia victims, I felt so sorry and sad,” Paul wrote.
“Taking a chemical company’s Minamata disease disaster for example, he said, “You company is facing problems similar to those faced by the Chisso Corporation. The dispute between Samsung Electronics and the leukemia victims has been well known to people all around the world. If the victims file a class action lawsuit against your company, the company’s brand image will be comprised,” he said.
Paul ended the letter by saying: “I don’t know how much influence you, as vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, can have on the issue, but you were a fair-minded, clever, kind person when you were young. Thus, I hope you will make efforts to come up with fair, ethical solutions to the issue. I pray for you and for the leukemia victims.”
