LG leader Koo seeks new growth drivers at group strategy meetings

Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of South Korea’s fourth-largest conglomerate LG, is seeking new growth drivers by hosting strategy meetings groupwide.

LG Corp., which controls the group's affiliates, has been holding a series of meetings presided over by Chairman Koo since May 8, the company said on Friday.

Chief executives of group affiliates, including LG Electronics Inc., LG Chem Ltd. and LG Energy Solution Ltd., will directly report their future business plans to the chairman, officials said.

The meetings will be followed by annual business review sessions later this year to evaluate subsidiaries’ business performance and set next year’s plans.

At LG Corp.’s shareholders’ meeting in March, Koo said the group will spend heavily in its three key sectors – artificial intelligence, bio and clean tech.

Koo said in 2022 that LG will invest 2 trillion won ($1.54 billion) over the next five years in green projects related to biomaterials, recycling of used batteries and plastics, and carbon-neutral technologies as part of its efforts to transform into an eco-friendly business group.

He also promised to refine LG’s strategy for the production of electric vehicle batteries, which are in growing demand but face stricter US regulations for sale in North America.

KOO BON-MOO

Meanwhile, Koo is closely watched if he will attend an event to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of former LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo on Saturday.

The late Koo, the grandson of LG founder Koo In-hwoi, led the conglomerate for 23 years from 1995.

Koo Kwang-mo was the nephew of the late chairman but was adopted in 2004 after Koo Bon-moo’s only son died in a car accident. Koo Kwang-mo became the conglomerate’s chairman in June 2018.

The incumbent chairman in March was sued by his family members over the distribution of inherited wealth, including a stake in LG Corp., the flagship unit at the center of the group’s cross-shareholding.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.