이 기사는 2022년 02월 24일 08시09분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

LG Corp's vice chairman and chief operating officer (COO) Kwon Bong-seok will serve as a director on LG Chem’s board, replacing Kwon Young-soo who was appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) of EV battery maker LG Energy Solution last year.

LG Chem will hold a general shareholders’ meeting on March 23 and appoint Kwon Bong-seok as the company’s non-standing director, said the company on Tuesday. A reappointment of LG Chem CEO Shin Hak-cheol will also be put to a vote.

Kwon Bong-seok was appointed as vice chairman and COO of LG Corp at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in January. LG Electronics appointed chief strategy officer (CSO) Cho Joo-wan as an inside director and Kwon as a non-standing director and new chair on the home appliances maker’s board.

Kwon Young-soo had served as a non-standing director on boards of LG Electronics, LG Chem, LG Display and LG Uplus. Kwon Bong-seok will replace Kwon Young-soo on LG Electronics and LG Chem’s board. It remains to be seen whether Kwon Bong-seok will also chair LG Chem’s board.

The appointment is seen as a move by LG Group chairman Koo Kwang-mo to empower Kwon by allowing him to spearhead the two largest companies in the group. At the same time, Koo has retained his balance in granting authorities as he also named LG Corp president Ha Beom-jong as a non-standing director of other affiliate under the LG umbrella.

Ha beom-jong was appointed as a non-standing director on LG Display’s board. After being promoted in November 2021, Ha has been leading LG Corp’s management support division, which was newly established under Koo’s leadership.

It remains to be seen who will be appointed as a director of LG Uplus depending on the company’s current situation given that Kwon Bong-seok is known as a pragmatic strategist while Ha is a financial expert.

Given that Koo’s management approach appears to refrain from giving too much authority to one person, Ha appears to be the strong candidate.

Some market insiders pointed out that the selection reflects Koo’s intention to trigger competition between the two. Kwon and Ha are the only inside directors of LG Corp alongside Koo.

Born in 1963, Kwon started his career in LG Electronics, then Gold Star, in 1987 and served diverse positions at other key affiliates. He mostly worked at the group’s crown jewel LG Electronics and became CEO in 2019.

Ha was born in 1968 and joined LX International, then LG International, in 1994 and mostly worked at the finance division. He became the first head of finance at LG Corp under Koo’s leadership. (Reporting by Eun-a Jo)