LS Group's New Head, Koo Ja-eun's Inaugural Statement: 'Ambidextrous Management Theory'

Koo Ja-eun, Chairman of LS Group

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Koo Ja-eun, who became the head of LS Group, emphasized maximizing business synergy between existing core businesses and future new businesses through "ambidextrous management" as his inaugural message.

On the 3rd, LS Group held the "LS Chairman Handover and New Year Greeting" event at the main auditorium of LS Tower in Anyang, declaring the start of the 3rd term under Chairman Koo Ja-eun.

The event was held with minimal attendance in compliance with quarantine guidelines, proceeding in the order of outgoing Chairman Koo Ja-yeol's farewell speech, the handing over of the LS company flag, and incoming Chairman Koo Ja-eun's inaugural speech. It was shared with employees via an internal online live broadcast.

Prior to this, in November last year, LS held a board meeting and decided that Koo Ja-eun, chairman of LS Mtron, would take on the group chairman position, publicly announcing this decision and continuing LS's unique tradition of "beautiful succession" following founding chairman Koo Ja-hong and 2nd chairman Koo Ja-yeol.

In his inaugural speech, Koo Ja-eun, who will lead the new 3rd term LS Group, expressed gratitude, saying, "The two previous chairmen laid a solid foundation and framework for our group and instilled in us infinite possibilities and confidence." He added, "I will do my utmost to inherit and develop the achievements of the previous chairmen, listen to the voices of employees, and design and realize a new future for LS."

Chairman Koo stated, "The energy transition toward carbon neutrality will ultimately accelerate the era of 'electrification,' which for LS represents a great opportunity to contribute to human survival and prosperity while establishing a foundation for sustainable growth." He expressed his ambition, saying, "Going forward, we will instill pride and hope in various stakeholders surrounding us, including employees, customers, and the market, that 'growth is possible with LS.'"

To realize this, he emphasized three key focus areas during his term: ▲ maximizing business synergy through ambidextrous management ▲ systematic globalization based on data assets ▲ growth together with society through ESG (environment, social, governance).

First, ambidextrous management reflects Chairman Koo's strong intention to become a company that maximizes business synergy and provides customer-centric value solutions by balancing advanced technologies in existing core business areas such as electricity, power, and materials in one hand, and future leading technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the other.

Secondly, Chairman Koo expressed his determination to continue LS's global growth momentum by combining market and customer data assets with insightful analysis. He also plans to build a cloud-based global business system so that LS employees scattered across various regions worldwide can understand and utilize data assets in the same way and in real time.

Lastly, in line with the era's mission of ESG management, he pledged to ensure that all management activities contribute more to the environment and humanity, are empathetic, and converge into sustainable and integrated actions, thereby realizing LS's vision of "creating sustainable value in the future energy industry" at an early stage.

Outgoing Chairman Koo Ja-yeol expressed gratitude in his farewell speech, saying, "The past nine years as LS chairman, a journey not short, were happy and honorable to share with you all." Regarding Chairman Koo Ja-eun, he praised, "Having gained field experience in various domestic and international business sectors and led the group's Future Innovation Division to drive change toward the future, he is the right person to transform LS into a young and dynamic future comprehensive energy solutions company and build it into a global company with assets exceeding 50 trillion won."

An LS official stated, "Under the new leadership of Chairman Koo Ja-eun starting this year, LS will strive for the group's second leap forward based on its existing strengths in electricity and power infrastructure and energy solutions in the era of global energy transition."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.