KOREA WHO

Koo Bon-joon is Chairman of LX Group. He also serves as CEO of LX Holdings, the group's holding company.

He led LX Group, which was spun off from LG Group and launched in May 2021, to become one of South Korea's large business groups within just two years.

Koo was born on December 24, 1951, in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, as the third son of Koo Ja-kyung, Honorary Chairman of LG Group.

He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in Computational Statistics and completed an MBA program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

He began his career as a researcher at the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and later worked as an executive vice president at AT&T Technologies in the United States.

He joined GoldStar Semiconductor as a general manager and later served as Executive Vice President of LG Chem before returning in 1997 as Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Semicon.

After LG Semicon was transferred to Hyundai Group in 1999 under the semiconductor industry restructuring deal, he moved to LG LCD as CEO. At the time, he secured US$1.6 billion in foreign investment from the Netherlands' Philips to establish LG.Philips LCD. He later served at LG International before returning as Vice Chairman and CEO of LG Electronics.

At LG, the holding company, he headed the New Growth Business Promotion Team, where he expanded the group's future businesses, including rechargeable batteries and automotive electronics, into profitable operations.

In May 2021, he left LG and became Chairman of the newly established LX Group.

He places great importance on technological competitiveness and has a strong passion for leading the market.

Known for his straightforward speaking style, he pushes ahead decisively with the initiatives he believes in.