On the 27th, LG CHEM held a board meeting and said it promoted Kim Dong-chun, head of the advanced materials business division (executive vice president), to president and appointed him as LG CHEM chief executive officer (CEO). Kim will be promoted to president less than a year after being elevated to executive vice president in January this year.
With the appointment of the new president Kim, Vice Chairman Shin Hak-Cheol, who led LG CHEM for seven years, will step down. Along with this, LG CHEM carried out 2026 executive appointments and an organizational restructuring, newly appointing seven managing directors.
Born in 1968, Kim majored in industrial chemistry at Hanyang University and earned an MBA from the University of Washington in the United States. Kim joined LG CHEM in 1996 and held key posts in advanced materials, including head of the semiconductor materials business, head of the electronic materials business unit, and head of the advanced materials business division.
Kim delivered results in areas such as increasing profitability in the advanced materials business, securing future growth engines, and expanding global customers, contributing to strengthening business competitiveness. Kim also handled management strategy and new business development at LG CHEM and LG Corporation, building experience in strategy formulation and execution, and is evaluated as having both a global business sense and strategic insight. LG CHEM said, "Kim is the right person to upgrade the business portfolio amid an uncertain management environment and to lead future innovation."
On this day, LG CHEM newly appointed seven managing directors. Despite a difficult business environment, including weak global demand, the appointments targeted talent who will drive the expansion of high value-added businesses and new future businesses based on performance-based principles.
LG CHEM said, "Through these appointments, we plan to upgrade the business portfolio and continue to establish a business structure with a competitive edge," adding, "Vice Chairman Shin is stepping down to enable a generational shift after laying the groundwork for new future growth businesses such as battery materials and for global management over the past seven years at LG CHEM."
◇ Promotion to president
▲ Kim Dong-chun (金東春)
◇ New managing directors
▲ Kim Gi-hwan (金起煥), senior research fellow under the Institute of Core Technologies ▲ Lim Gyeong-chae (林炅采), head of the China Yongxing ABS production subsidiary ▲ Yu Dong-ju (劉東柱), head of ABS and domestic sales ▲ Lee Won-sang (李元常), head of advanced materials and strategic sourcing group ▲ Lee Seung-hyeok (李昇赫), head of engineering materials and global production technology ▲ Lee Jun-ho (李準鎬), head of the advanced materials business competitiveness enhancement TFT ▲ Kim Min-gyo (金旻皎), head of electronic materials and marketing strategy