“The growth of the wireline and wireless services, which is LG Uplus' core business, is in a limited situation. It is time to maximize profitability through fundamental improvements in business structure using artificial intelligence (AI).”
Hong Beom-sik, president of LG Uplus, said this on the 25th during the regular shareholders' meeting for 2025 held at the LG Uplus building in Yongsan, Seoul. LG Uplus passed a motion to appoint Hong Beom-sik, a former head of LG Corporation's management strategy division, as president at this meeting. Thus, LG Uplus welcomes a new leader after four years.
President Hong emphasized the need to improve the business structure through AI. He noted, “This year, LG Uplus will strengthen its core technological capabilities based on an AI-centered business strategy to secure future growth engines,” adding, “In particular, we will achieve continuous revenue generation by enhancing growth centered on business-to-business (B2B).”
President Hong also revealed plans to strengthen AI business through collaboration with big tech companies. He stated, “This year, we will collaborate with Google to pursue an AI business worth $300 million (approximately 440.7 billion won) over the next three years, and we plan to offer services using YouTube search integration on 'Excit'.” He also mentioned that they will develop a Korean-style sovereign AI agent and AI contact center (AICC) through collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and launch AX (AI transformation) consulting services.
He added, “We plan to enhance customer productivity and help reduce operating expenses through an AI-powered work automation system in the aspects of call center and network management,” emphasizing, “We will strengthen the quality, security, and safety, which are directly connected to customer trust, to the highest global standards.” He further stated, “We will find opportunities to generate continuous revenue based on network competitiveness, moving away from the project-based revenue structure that relies on contracts.”
On that day, LG Uplus also passed motions to appoint Kwon Bong-seok, COO of LG Corporation, as a non-executive director, and Nam Hyung-do, a professor at Yonsei University's law school, as an outside director. The terms for President Hong, Director Kwon, and Director Nam will last until the annual shareholders' meeting in 2028. A proposal to approve the board of directors’ compensation cap was also passed, with the cap set at 5 billion won, the same as last year. LG Uplus confirmed the annual dividend for 2024 at 650 won per share to return value to shareholders, with a payout ratio of 59.1%. The remaining 400 won, excluding the interim dividend of 250 won already paid, will be distributed next month.
Hong, who joined LG in 2019, received praise for strengthening business competitiveness by actively pursuing mergers and acquisitions while serving as the head of LG Corporation's management strategy division. Since 2022, he has participated in major decision-making processes as a non-executive director for both LG Uplus and LG HelloVision.