LS Group to bolster batteries, EVs and chipmaking, chairman says

South Korean conglomerate LS Group is seeking business opportunities in the materials and parts sectors led by the fast-growing battery, electric vehicle and semiconductor industries, group Chairman Koo Ja-eun said earlier this month.  

The era of carbon-free electricity is fast coming due to the global push for carbon neutrality, and as such it is a time of great change and opportunities the group won’t have again, Koo said in a seminar for the employees. Themed “Why Now? What’s Next?,” the seminar was conducted for around 300 LS executives and team heads, according to LS on Thursday.

The group was long overly committed to stability and reluctant to bet on new business areas, Koo said. The conglomerate will now take on challenges with no fear, he said, aiming for a 50:50 ratio of new business and existing business by 2030. 

The group will focus on ambidextrous leadership – it will optimize the existing businesses with operating system innovation and data management and also enter new businesses, he said. The effort is to establish a so-called agile management system, which means responding to market trend changes and customers’ needs quickly and flexibly.

Through surveys, the group found that its current and former employees have a high demand for new challenges and growth opportunities, Koo said. The chairman pledged to lead in the creation of opportunities to encourage employees’ passion at work, he added.  

LS Group has held three seminars for executives annually since 2008, focusing on sharing up-to-date business trends. It was exceptional to have the chairman as a speaker for the seminar, which has so far relied on external lecturers. Koo, who became the chairman in March, had visited the group’s 14 affiliates across Korea by June and is accelerating the search for new growth engines.

The group was spun off from Korean conglomerate LG Group in 2003. LS Group owns Korea’s leading cable, electrical equipment and car parts makers. Among the affiliates are LS Cable & System Ltd., LS Mtron Co., LS Electric Co. and LS-Nikko Copper Inc.

Write to Shin-Young Park at nyusos@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.