Samsung Electronics Company chairman Lee Kun-hee, who is also the richest man in South Korea, is reportedly in stable condition after resuscitation and surgery following a heart attack on Sunday, local media reported.

Lee, 72, the man behind the world's biggest smartphone maker, is recuperating inside the Samsung Medical Center. Lee was rushed to the hospital after experiencing difficulty breathing. Emergency personal had to perform CPR to save the chairman's life, a statement from the hospital said.

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The hospital said Lee suffered an acute myocardial infarction but is currently in recovery. It was not known yet how long Lee will stay in the hospital.

It was the second time that the Samsung chairman was hospitalized. Lee was treated for lung cancer in the late 1990s and was hospitalized due to pneumonia in August 2013.

Lee's worsening health condition come at a time when Samsung faces slow growth but still leads the global mobile phone market, ahead of Apple and Nokia.

Lee took over Samsung in 1987 following the dead of his father, who was the founder of the Samsung Group. The chairman and his three children control over 80 companies owned by Samsung.

Last week, Samsung hinted at increasing its investment at its chip production plant in Xian by US $3 billion in order to boost the plant's capacity.

Kim Ki-nam, Samsung's memory chip business division head, said the South Korean company will remain committed to further increasing its investment in China even as the Chinese economy is in a slowdown.

Kim said Samsung is mass producing NAND memory chips, which are faster and higher-capacity version of the flash memory chips, at its new plant in Xian. The plant's initial investment was US $7 billion but Kim said the company will put in additional US $3 billion.

TagsLee Kun-Hee, Samsung Chairman