We dream of a future that is unimaginable without LG and are making it real, but as the world is changing faster than our efforts, we must leap beyond the ways we have succeeded so far to achieve new innovation.
Koo Kwang-mo, chairman of LG Group and CEO of LG Corp., sent a New Year's address video for 2026 by email to LG members on the 22nd. Since 2022, LG Group has delivered the New Year's address at the end of the year instead of the beginning. The aim is to help members wrap up the year calmly and prepare for the new year.
Koo began the address by saying, "I would like to thank all members who, with a focus on customers, worked for challenges and change this year."
Koo then stressed the need for new innovation that goes beyond the ways we have succeeded so far. Koo said, "We dream of a future that is unimaginable without LG, make it real, and move forward step by step, but the world is changing faster than our efforts," and emphasized, "As the paradigm of technology and the rules of competition change and customer expectations rise, we must leap beyond the ways we have succeeded so far to achieve new innovation."
Koo said, "Innovation is more than improving customers' lives today; it is creating the value future customers need," adding, "To do this, our thinking and behavior must also change, and 'selection and concentration' is the start." He continued, "First, we must choose a single core value that reaches customers' hearts," and emphasized, "Only when we clarify a single core value can we set the direction of innovation and rally our strength."
Koo said, "After choosing (a single core value), we must dig in to a level others think is impossible," adding, "This intense focus creates experiences that make customers feel it is 'truly different' and completes outstanding value that raises the world's standards."
Koo went on to say, "We now stand at an inflection point where a new future is opening, and making a better future is both our responsibility and our opportunity," and emphasized, "Choosing the value that will make customers smile in 10 years and focusing our today fully on it is the kind of innovation LG can do best."
In the 2019 New Year's address, the year after taking office, Koo emphasized "customers" as the key direction for LG and has continued to evolve and advance the customer-value management message each year through the New Year's address.
In 2019, Koo defined LG's unique customer value as "giving a moving experience that can change customers' lives," "giving it ahead of others," and "creating it continuously, not just once or twice." In 2020, Koo urged a focus on customer pain points, and in 2021, emphasized focusing on hyper-segmentation to understand and empathize with customers more deeply.
In 2022, Koo proposed creating a valuable customer experience that, once experienced, cannot be transferred back to the previous state. In 2023, Koo presented "the customer value I create" as the theme and proposed that every member become the protagonist of LG and build customer delight. In 2024, to help LG leap to become the top corporations in customer experience innovation that lead the market, Koo emphasized "immersion in differentiated customer value." In 2025, Koo stressed delivering value that future customers truly need and that exceeds expectations, drawing on the "DNA of challenge and change" that has continued since LG's founding.