'Yongtoe' Kwon Young-soo: "Steadfast Leadership of Late Chairman Koo Bon-moo, Grateful to CEO Koo Kwang-mo"

Joined in 1979, Dedicated 44 Years to LG Group
"Two Years at LG Energy Solution Were Incredibly Rewarding and Happy"

"I sincerely express my gratitude to the late Chairman Koo Bon-moo, who taught me leadership with perseverance and tenacity, as well as to many senior executives and LG Group members. In particular, I deeply thank CEO Koo Kwang-mo for supporting us to achieve many accomplishments by sharing the same vision for LG’s major businesses over a long period, and I will cheer for the future of LG Group led by CEO Koo."

On the 22nd, Kwon Young-soo, Vice Chairman of LG Energy Solution, who decided to step down to pave the way for juniors, spoke about his reflections on his 44 years with LG Group. He said, "The global battery industry will face a significant turning point next year," and added, "For LG Energy Solution to break through fierce competition and build stronger competitiveness in the future, young and new leadership with swift execution capabilities is needed."

Kwon, who joined LG Electronics in 1979, served as CEO of LG Display, LG Uplus, and LG Corp. for 17 years, playing a major role in LG’s growth into a global top-tier company.

Reflecting on his time at LG Energy Solution, Kwon said, "The last two years, which I spent more intensely than ever, will be remembered as the most rewarding and happiest time."

Kwon is credited with growing LG Energy Solution into the world’s top battery company and elevating the status of Korea’s battery industry. Since taking the helm of LG Energy Solution in November 2021, he successfully led the company’s initial public offering (IPO), making LG Energy Solution the second-largest company by market capitalization in Korea. Subsequently, he announced joint ventures (JVs) and supply contracts with the world’s leading automakers such as GM, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Stellantis, increasing the order backlog from around KRW 200 trillion at the time of his appointment to KRW 500 trillion.

Since Kwon’s appointment, LG Energy Solution has consistently achieved record quarterly sales and operating profits. He actively promoted product competitiveness differentiation, the establishment of a smart factory infrastructure, the creation of a supply chain management (SCM) system for stable raw material procurement, and the development of next-generation battery technologies. He led LG Energy Solution to become a ‘world-class QCD (Quality, Cost, Delivery) company’ that customers trust and love as the number one profitable company.

Kwon Young-soo, Vice Chairman of LG Energy Solution
[Photo by LG Energy Solution]

Kwon also worked hard to innovate organizational culture through his unique leadership style of icheongdeuksim (以聽得心, "listening to understand the heart"). Based on the management philosophy that the most important customers are employees and that excellent organizational culture is the starting point of strong execution, he always communicated with members to make LG Energy Solution a ‘company where people enjoy working.’ Shortly after his appointment, he opened a direct communication channel called Entalk to quickly improve welfare and internal systems. To encourage open and sincere horizontal communication, he established the use of the honorific suffix ‘nim.’ He also visited domestic and overseas business sites once or twice a week to directly address on-site difficulties, believing that all answers lie with customers and the field.

At the time of Kwon’s appointment, LG Energy Solution needed to build stronger trust with customers and stakeholders in all aspects such as quality and technology, and also establish a large-scale production base to ensure stable supply of orders. Drawing on his extensive experience managing multiple global business sites within LG Group and his broad understanding and insight into the battery industry, Kwon steadily tackled these challenges.

However, Kwon decided on a graceful retirement for the ‘greater leap’ of LG Energy Solution. Having successfully built EnSol 1.0 through overseas site investments and securing future customers, he judged that now is the optimal time to prepare EnSol 2.0 with strong execution and for a new successor to take over the helm.

Kwon said, "I hope the new CEO will make a greater leap by building on the challenges, innovation capabilities, and achievements that LG Energy Solution has accumulated over 30 years," and added, "I will sincerely support LG Energy Solution’s journey to become the world’s best battery company."

On the same day, LG Energy Solution held a board meeting and conducted regular executive appointments. Kim Dong-myung, who was promoted to president at the end of last year and is head of the Automotive Battery Division at LG Energy Solution, was appointed as Kwon’s successor.

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