Samsung's Lee Jae-yong visits battery production sites in Malaysia

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, inspects Samsung SDI's battery production plant in Seremban, Malaysia, on Friday. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong visited Samsung SDI’s battery production sites in Malaysia during the Lunar New Year holiday, adhering to the tradition of visiting Samsung’s overseas operations amid Korea’s major holidays.

The visit, which marked Lee’s first official overseas trip this year, comes right after the court found the Samsung chief innocent of charges of breach of trust and accounting fraud.

Lee first headed to the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed engagement on Feb. 6, a day after the court ruling was made, and then flew to Malaysia before coming back to Korea on Sunday.

“We shouldn’t be intimidated by difficulties, and make bold investments,” said Lee during his visit to Samsung SDI’s battery plants in Seremban, Malaysia, on Friday, the first day of Korea’s Lunar New Year holiday.

“Let’s not be carried away by short-term results — we should lead the change by boldly taking on challenges,” Lee said, signifying continued long-term investments despite the recent slowdown in global EV demand.

The chairman met with Samsung SDI executives and employees in the region, including Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho, and inspected the production site, according to Samsung Electronics.

The Seremban factory, established in 1991, began to produce battery cells starting in 2012. Samsung SDI is currently building its second plant at the site since 2022.

The 1.7-trillion-won ($1.3-billion) plant is set to be fully completed by 2025, and begin mass production of Samsung SDI’s type 21700 cylindrical batteries under the PRiMX brand this year from some production lines.

Measuring 21 millimeters in diameter and 70 millimeters in height, the cylindrical battery can be used in EVs, energy storage systems and electric power tools.

On Saturday, Lee headed to Kuala Lumpur to visit Samsung Electronics’ largest store in the country jointly set up with Senheng, a Malaysian retail company, in 2022.

Malaysia is the leading market for Samsung Electronics in terms of the number of smartphone shipments.

Lee has been making overseas trips during Korea’s major holidays every year, such as the Lunar New Year and Chuseok harvest holidays. During the last Chuseok holiday, Lee visited the Middle East region, including Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]