LG Electronics said on the 9th that it held a commemorative event on the 8th at the Gasan research and development (R&D) campus in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon District, Seoul, under the theme "50 years of technology and passion, a promise toward tomorrow."
Attending the event were Lee Hyun-uk, head of the HS Research Center at LG Electronics (executive vice president), and Oh Se-gi, head of the ES Research Institute (executive vice president), as well as former Vice Chairman Kim Ssang-su, former President Lee Young-ha, former President Shin Moon-beom, former President Song Dae-hyun, and other current and former heads of the home appliance business unit and research institutes, along with professors from major Korean universities collaborating with LG Electronics on industry-academia projects.
LG Electronics established the Gasan R&D campus in Dec. 1975 under the name "Goldstar Central Research Institute" to create a more systematic research hub and synergy among labs. At a time when most domestic corporations operated small research teams within individual factories, it became the first comprehensive private research institute dedicated to new product development, quality improvement, and production system automation across product lines such as home appliances and computers.
The institute, which launched with a single-story building equipped with test facilities for electrical measurement, control, and standards, built a new testing wing in 2002 with various laboratories for pressure, temperature, noise, and more. It then completed a research building in 2007 with 20 floors above ground and five below, and added an annex in 2013, bringing the total gross floor area to 35,000 pyeong. The number of resident staff, which was several dozen at opening, has now grown to about 1,700.
The institute now conducts a wide range of research not only on home appliances but also on core components, functional advanced materials, and platforms. In addition to diverse research and testing labs such as high-speed motor and inverter labs, microbiology and hygiene labs, and advanced platform labs, it operates specialized research facilities including the Clothing Science Research Institute and the Air Science Research Institute, as well as a materials research institute. Research continues for LG Electronics' future on HVAC compressors of various types and capacities, the functional advanced material "glass powder," and next-generation home appliance platforms.
Executive Vice President Lee Hyun-uk said, "Based on the world-class technological capabilities accumulated over the past 50 years, we will establish ourselves as a strategic hub leading the new AI home era and as a center of R&D innovation that showcases products delivering differentiated customer value."