IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Lee returns as Samsung chief

Lee Kun-hee, South Korea's richest tycoon, returned as chairman of Samsung Electronics Co, filling the void left atop the world's second-largest chipmaker after criminal charges of tax evasion led him to resign.

"No one knows what could become of Samsung at this critical moment when even global companies are collapsing," James Chung, a Samsung Electronics spokesman, quoted Lee as saying. "There's no time to lose," Lee said, according to Chung. Lee accepted a request from Samsung Group affiliates to return to management, the spokesman said. Lee, 68, who got a suspended prison sentence in August after being convicted of tax evasion, received a presidential pardon in December.