Lee made the remark during his meeting with Hong Young-pyo, floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and others at the company's production line in Hwaseong, some 60 kilometers south of Seoul.

"There have been always crises, but we will overcome them through consistent innovation," Lee, Samsung's de facto chief, said.

Samsung will create many decent jobs as creating employment opportunities is also our responsibility. The company will make more effort to cooperate with smaller firms," he added.

Samsung Electronics is estimated to have posted an operating profit of 10.8 trillion won (US$9.7 billion) in the fourth quarter, down 28.7 percent from the previous year. The sharp fall in profit is attributable to weak memory demand.

The company has traditionally invested heavily in memory semiconductors, such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash chips. (Yonhap)