South Korea's antitrust body has unveiled its updated list of the owners of the country's top 49 conglomerates.
In it,... Samsung's Lee Jae-yong is no longer listed as the group's heir apparent.
Shin Dong-bin is also now listed as the top dog at Lotte Group.
Lee Ji-won has more.
The Fair Trade Commission announced Tuesday that going forward... it will consider Lee Jae-yong and Shin Dong-bin to be the respective legal heads of Samsung Group and Lotte Group.
They are the sons of the two groups' chairmen, and recognizing Lee and Shin as leaders in the eyes of the commission... represents the first leadership change in 30 years.
The commission says the decision was made because Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee has not been involved in the group's business activities since he was hospitalized in May 2014,... despite still owning the biggest stake in the group.
It said the chairman's son, Lee Jae-yong, who is also the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, has been the one actually making crucial changes and decisions in the management of Samsung's affiliates.
The younger Lee currently holds the largest stake of Samsung C&T Corporation,... at a little over 17 percent.
Samsung C&T is believed to be at the top of the group's corporate governance.
For similar reasons, the commission decided to recognize Shin Dong-bin as head of Lotte Group... in lieu of his father and the group's founder, chairman Shin Kyuk-ho.
The elder Shin had been stripped of his seat on the board of the group's holding firm last year... due to his advanced age and inability to perform administrative tasks.
The Group has since seen major changes to its internal power structure, led by Shin Dong-bin.
The younger Shin is the CEO and the largest individual investor in Lotte Holdings.
He's also the chief of Hotel Lotte, which is at the top of the group's corporate governance outside its holding system.
The corporate watchdog's decision is not expected to have a huge impact on the firms' businesses, since the change in leadership does not alter or add to the groups' affiliates.
But the commission says the two leaders could have a heavier weight on their shoulders,... since they are now officially responsible for their firms' decisions.
Soon after the announcement, Lotte Group said it welcomed the decision,... but Samsung was more reserved. The tech giant said the leadership designation will have little impact on either the firm itself or Lee's actual role.
This is viewed as a sign the management of Samsung's affiliates has become more individualistic rather than group-based.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.
