LG Group Executive Personnel Changes on the 21st
Key Affiliate CEOs Retained
Vice Chairmen Kwon Bong-seok and Shin Hak-cheol Maintain 'Dual Leadership'
LGU+ New President Hong Beom-sik Appointed
23% New Executives in ABC Fields
R&D Executives Number 218, 'Record High'
This year, LG Group's personnel direction was focused on 'stability.' After a significant generational change last year, LG reaffirmed the CEOs of major affiliates except for LG Uplus and decided to maintain the two-person system of Vice Chairmen Kwon Bong-seok and Shin Hak-cheol. However, to lay the groundwork for securing future business capabilities in areas such as ABC (AI, Bio, Cleantech), a large-scale organizational restructuring was carried out to pursue change.
On the 21st, LG Group held a board meeting and approved the 2025 executive personnel plan for the holding company LG and major affiliates including LG Electronics, LG Display, LG Innotek, and LG Uplus.
Key affiliate CEOs such as Kwon Bong-seok, Vice Chairman of LG Corp., Shin Hak-cheol, Vice Chairman of LG Chem, Cho Joo-wan, President of LG Electronics, Kim Dong-myung, President of LG Energy Solution, and Jung Cheol-dong, President of LG Display, were mostly retained considering the changes in the global market environment and uncertainties in the management environment. A total of 121 people were promoted, including two promotions to president. The total number of promotions decreased by 18 compared to 139 last year.
There were no promotions to vice chairman either. Following the retirement of former Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo, a 44-year LG veteran, last year, the number of vice chairmen, which was six when Chairman Koo Kwang-mo took office, is currently operated as a two-person system. In this personnel move, although LG Electronics President Cho Joo-wan and LG Display President Jung Cheol-dong were rumored candidates for vice chairman promotion, it is interpreted that Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, who values pragmatism over formality or protocol, chose not to expand the vice chairman group further. The only vice chairman promoted under Chairman Koo’s leadership was Vice Chairman Kwon Bong-seok, promoted at the end of 2021.
An LG official explained, "We streamlined the executive organization to enable faster decision-making and established a foundation to strengthen structural competitiveness."
The only affiliate that replaced its top executive was LG Uplus. LG Uplus replaced its CEO for the first time in four years, appointing Hong Beom-sik, head of LG’s management strategy division, as the new CEO. Since 2022, Hong has served as a non-executive director at LG Uplus and LG HelloVision, participating in key decision-making. He will lead the strategy for LG Uplus to gain an advantage in AI competition and transform into an AX (AI Transformation) company.
At LG Electronics, Kim Young-rak, head of the Korea Sales Headquarters, was promoted to president. Kim is recognized as a marketing and sales expert who improved profitability through subscription service expansion and increased sales of the online brand shop (OBS).
Hyun Shin-kyun, CEO of LG CNS, was also promoted from vice president to president. This promotion is seen as recognition of achievements in digital transformation (DX) projects based on new digital technologies such as AI.
There was active movement in female appointments. This personnel move newly appointed seven female executives, including Kim Ji-yeon, Senior Manager of LG Electronics Korea Sales Headquarters’ Korea Sales CX division. As a result, the number of female executives at LG increased from 29 in 2018 to a record high of 65. The number of executives born in the 1980s rose to 17, tripling over five years.
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
Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, who aimed for overall organizational slimming through this personnel move, is expected to accelerate 'future preparation' by increasing decision-making speed and quickly responding to changes in the external environment. In particular, it is analyzed that strategies for securing profitability next year will be established based on this year’s management performance.
In fact, the appointment of three executives born in the 1980s with expertise in AI and the selection of 23% of new executives from the ABC field revealed signs of change. To secure future business capabilities, next-generation leadership in research and development (R&D) was also strengthened. Including 21 new executives, the number of R&D executives in the group increased to 218, a record high. Promotions of two patent experts were also made to establish a patent management system and strengthen the role of the patent organization.
An LG official said, "LG’s executive personnel reflects Chairman Koo Kwang-mo’s management philosophy, which emphasizes setting challenging goals to accelerate change and innovation," adding, "We plan to strengthen leadership diversity and dynamism through the appointment of women and young talents as well as external recruitment."
Meanwhile, LG Electronics massively reorganized its business division for the first time in five years. In particular, to accelerate B2B growth, the ES (Eco Solution) Business Division was newly established to foster the full-scale growth of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) business, and major business units that can create synergy were consolidated.
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