Samsung chief has emergency heart operation

The head of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest business empire, underwent an emergency operation today after developing symptoms of heart failure, hospital officials said.

Lee Kun-Hee, 72, was admitted to a hospital near his home in Seoul last night due to a respiratory problem.

He showed symptoms of heart failure and received emergency treatment before being moved early today to Samsung Medical Centre where his problem was diagnosed as "acute cardiac infarction", the hospital said in a statement.

"He is now recuperating in a stable condition after going through an operation," it said.

Lee underwent lung surgery in the late 1990s and has been suffering from respiratory complications since then.

Lee is South Korea's richest man with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine at around $10.8 billion and has a son and two daughters. His son, Jay Y. Lee, serves as Samsung Electronics' vice chairman.

The founding family controls Samsung through a complex web of share cross-holdings in group subsidiaries.

The senior Lee stepped down as group chairman in 2008 and now serves as chairman of Samsung Electronics, but he remains the de facto head of the entire business empire.