Lyu Jae-cheol, president and head of the HS Business Division at LG Electronics, has been appointed the new CEO. President Cho Joo-wan, who has led LG Electronics for the past four years, will step down.
LG Electronics said on the 27th that, following board approval, it finalized the "2026 executive appointments" and a "reorganization." Through this appointment, Lyu was named the new chief executive officer (CEO). The executive appointments take effect Jan. 1 next year, and the reorganization takes effect Dec. 1.
Regarding Lyu, who was appointed the new CEO, LG Electronics said, "He has achieved a competitive edge based on fundamental competitiveness in the home appliance business and led steady growth," adding, "He has been tasked with the crucial role of spreading the No. 1 DNA of LG home appliances, which has consistently provided distinctive customer value, across the entire company."
Lyu joined the GoldStar home appliance research lab in 1989 and spent about half of his tenure in home appliance research and development. He is called a "technology-driven business leader" who has run the business based on a high level of technical understanding.
◇ "Technology-centered business leader… strengthening fundamental performance"
In Jan. 2021, Lyu was appointed head of the Home Appliance & Air Solution (H&A) Business Division, which leads LG Electronics' core home appliance business. He was promoted from executive vice president to president in 2023. At the end of 2024, as the H&A Business Division was reorganized into the Home Appliance Solution (HS) Business Division, he focused on the home appliance business excluding heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC). HVAC is handled exclusively by the newly established Eco Solution (ES) Business Division.
LG Electronics' annual home appliance sales (including HVAC) grew from 27.1097 trillion won in 2021 to 33.2033 trillion won last year. Even after the reorganization into the HS Business Division, sales rose year over year throughout the third quarter this year.
While leading LG Electronics' home appliance business, Lyu emphasized "strengthening fundamental performance" and pushed steady research and development (R&D). Through this, he introduced "UP appliances," which provide continuous function upgrades after purchase, and contributed to improving the business structure by strengthening business-to-business (B2B) operations in home appliances, including built-in and component solutions.
With Lyu appointed as the new CEO, Executive Vice President Baek Seung-tae, head of the Kitchen Solutions Business Unit, will become head of the HS Business Division. Baek has served as head of the Living Solutions Business Unit and the Kitchen Solutions Business Unit. Despite changes in the external environment, he pursued more sophisticated production base strategies and delivered results, which is cited as the reason he was chosen as the new HS head.
◇ 34 executives promoted, including two presidents
Along with Lyu's appointment as CEO, LG Electronics also announced promotions for a total of 34 executives (including two at LG Electronics India): ▲ two presidents ▲ two executive vice presidents ▲ nine senior vice presidents ▲ 21 vice presidents. Compared with last year (46), the number of promotions decreased.
Eun Seok-hyeon, head of the VS (vehicle component solution) Business Division, and Lee Jae-sung, head of the ES Business Division, were promoted to president. LG Electronics said, "This is to accelerate the development of the two pillars of the B2B business—automotive electronics and electrical equipment, and HVAC."
President Eun Seok-hyeon, who joined LG Electronics at the end of 2018, has led the VS Business Division, which handles the vehicle component business, since the end of 2021. Despite an uncertain business environment, including U.S. tariffs and a slowdown in EV demand growth, he expanded sales centered on the in-vehicle infotainment business. He also helped improve performance through strong efficiency measures in EV components and automotive lighting.
President Lee Jae-sung joined the GoldStar air-conditioning research office in 1987 and is an HVAC expert who has worked across research and development, product planning, marketing, sales, and strategy. Since the end of last year, he has led the ES Business Division. While the ES division accounted for about 9% of total sales at its launch in the fourth quarter of last year, its share rose to 12% in the third quarter this year. This was the result of actively responding, centered on high-efficiency cooling solutions, to increased data center thermal management demand driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) services. The company said, "In addition to securing opportunities in the industrial and power generation HVAC market led by large chiller chillers, his contributions were recognized for advancing the business portfolio, including accelerating HVAC maintenance operations."
In addition, ▲ Kim Jin-kyung, head of the SoC Center, and ▲ Cho Byung-ha, head of the webOS Platform Business Center, were promoted to executive vice president. Kim will prepare future businesses using next-generation chip technologies. Cho is expected to lead growth in the advertising business based on webOS.
◇ Maintaining four business divisions and strengthening the role of "technology organizations"
LG Electronics will maintain its existing four-division structure and proceed with a reorganization that integrates similar and adjacent functions at headquarters. While keeping decision-making at the division level, the aim is to speed up consistent and sustainable mid- to long-term business strategies led by each division head.
The company said, "This is to streamline the organization to build a more agile decision-making structure amid rapidly changing external conditions and to accelerate mid- to long-term business portfolio strategies."
Within the HS Business Division, a B2B overseas sales unit will be newly established to expand globally and strengthen the portfolio of the home appliance B2B business centered on built-in and builder channels. The built-in and cooking business unit under the HS division has been elevated to a business department. A Robotics Research Lab will also be established by transferring some functions previously handled by the CTO division's Advanced Robotics Lab. Research fellow Lee Jae-uk will lead the HS Robotics Research Lab. Lee led humanoid robot development under the CTO division's Advanced Robotics Lab.
The MS Business Division will integrate the TV Business Department and IT Business Department into the Display Business Department. A Display Product Development Group will also be newly established. The existing webOS Advertising Office will be elevated to a department-level organization.
Within the ES Business Division, an Applied Business unit will be newly established. It will be responsible for businesses including industrial cooling solutions for data centers and nuclear power plants, as well as ventilation, refrigeration, and freezing. An ES M&A unit will also be created to handle opportunity sourcing such as equity investments and mergers and acquisitions (M&A), along with an ES Overseas Sales unit to support building locally complete business systems in overseas regions.
Within the CTO division, an HS Advanced Research Lab will be newly established. A Next-Generation Computing Lab will also be set up to secure future technologies early, including Quantum Computing, distributed computing, and next-generation security. To accelerate the companywide AI transition, the existing DX Center and Business Innovation unit will be integrated into the AX Center. Senior Vice President Cho Jeong-beom, who headed the DX Center, will lead the AX Center.