LG Group Announces Executive Team Reshuffle on the 21st... Focus on 'Change Amid Stability'

Vice Chairmen Kwon Bong-seok and Shin Hak-chul, Attention on President Jo Joo-wan's Reappointment
Jo Joo-wan and Jung Cheol-dong Also Possible Candidates for Vice Chairman Promotion

LG Group is expected to carry out its regular personnel reshuffle on the 21st. Since a major generational change was implemented last year, this year is anticipated to focus on stability.

According to business circles, major LG Group affiliates such as LG Electronics and LG Display will each hold board meetings in the afternoon to announce executive appointments and organizational restructuring.

LG Group conducts business review meetings by affiliate for a month starting in October every year, followed by executive appointments and organizational restructuring. LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has been receiving business reports from major affiliates for the past month.

On the 21st, ahead of the LG Group's executive reshuffle and organizational restructuring, employees are heading to work at the LG Group headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

This year, it is widely expected that there will be no major changes in the president-level executives. This is because the CEOs of LG Energy Solution, LG Display, and LG Innotek were replaced last year. Kim Dong-myung was appointed president of LG Energy Solution, and Moon Hyuk-soo was appointed CEO of LG Innotek. So far, no CEO in LG Group has been replaced within one year of appointment.

Among CEO-level executives, those whose terms expire next March 3 are Kwon Bong-seok, Vice Chairman of LG Corp., Shin Hak-cheol, Vice Chairman of LG Chem, and Cho Joo-wan, President of LG Electronics. Their retention will be decided in this regular personnel reshuffle.

Former Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo served as CEO of LG Corp. for four years, former Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hoe for three years, and former President Cho Jun-ho for four years. Based on precedent, Vice Chairman Kwon is expected to remain in his position for about another year. Vice Chairman Shin, who was personally recruited by Chairman Koo Kwang-mo six years ago, is the only external appointee among past vice chairmen. He is credited with successfully adjusting the business portfolio by suspending some petrochemical operations and restructuring non-core businesses. President Cho is highly regarded for diversifying LG Electronics’ business portfolio from home appliances to artificial intelligence (AI), platforms, and B2B (business-to-business) sectors.

Another point of interest is whether Cho Joo-wan, President of LG Electronics, and Jung Cheol-dong, President of LG Display, will be promoted to vice chairman. Currently, the 'Vice Chairman Group' within LG Group consists of only Vice Chairmen Kwon Bong-seok and Shin Hak-cheol. Former Vice Chairmen Kwon Young-soo of LG Energy Solution and Cha Seok-yong of LG Household & Health Care have either retired or left the company.

President Cho was promoted to president and began his CEO term in January 2022, so some analysts consider a vice chairman promotion premature. However, his strong performance despite this year’s market slowdown has drawn attention.

President Jung joined the president group in the regular personnel reshuffle at the end of 2016 and has served as CEO for eight years. Since 2019, he has led LG Innotek, achieving operating profits of 1 trillion won for two consecutive years (2021 and 2022), demonstrating his management capabilities. At the end of last year’s personnel reshuffle, he was appointed as the savior for LG Display, which had fallen into deficit.

There is also speculation about promotions or external recruitment of overseas government relations executives from various LG affiliates. This is due to increased uncertainty in business with the United States following the election of President Donald Trump.

After completing the personnel reshuffle, LG Group is expected to focus on finding solutions to demand contraction amid the economic downturn. It is analyzed that based on this year’s management performance, strategies for securing profitability next year will be formulated.