In the past, most corporations in Korea moved on the strong leadership and decisiveness of their founders. Samsung led by Lee Byung-chul and Hyundai led by Chung Ju-yung are prime examples. But as they now vie for the top spot in the global market, these corporations have grown so large that it is difficult for the owner alone to run them. The role of the so-called "keyman," who manages each field from the closest seat to the owner and plays a critical role in the final decision-making for the future, has become more important. We introduce the keymen of major corporations leading Korea's economy and examine the roles and tasks assigned to them. [Editor's note]
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, the corporations representing Korea, share a commonality in their leaders, Chair Lee Jae-yong and Chair Koo Kwang-mo. Both remain deeply in the shadow of fathers who left their mark on Korea's corporate history. After former Chair Lee Kun-hee passed away, Lee Jae-yong found himself among "his father's people" from the now-defunct Future Strategy Office, while Koo Kwang-mo inherited the helm as five vice chairs of LG Group who had assisted former Chair Koo Bon-moo remained in place.
The two leaders showed differences as they launched new leadership systems. Unlike Chair Lee, who elevated former Vice Chair Chung Hyun-ho, known as a finance specialist, as a mentor and right-hand figure, Chair Koo selected Vice Chair Kwon Bong-seok—who led TV and mobile businesses at LG Electronics for 34 years—as his partner. Chair Koo's intention to steer LG's corporate identity toward technology-centrism emerges amid a tough global market.
This year, Chair Koo's color, encapsulated in LG Group's slogan of "selection and focus," is expected to stand out. In business circles, newly appointed President Lyu Jae-cheol, the new head of LG Electronics—a flagship affiliate representing LG Group—is seen as likely to clearly demonstrate the philosophy of the Koo Kwang-mo system. A field-oriented leader regarded as "an engineer to the bone," Lyu has repeatedly expressed his determination to reorganize the portfolio LG Electronics has deployed over the past several years and to push forward winning businesses with strong execution.
As LG Group's leadership, once weighted toward a cohort of vice chairs, has been restructured to be CEO-centered with experts selected in each field, some say the group is accelerating change and innovation across the board with President Lyu at the forefront. In fact, Lyu recently signaled his intent to combine LG Electronics' parts technology, production capacity, and cost-saving know-how accumulated over decades with Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), and to work more closely with affiliates such as LG Innotek, LG Display, and LG Energy Solution in the process. The message is that LG Group intends to strengthen its cohesion, which has been viewed as weaker at the group level than that of Samsung or SK.
◇ "A CEO who knows field knowledge and market conditions well"
Executives and employees who worked with President Lyu Jae-cheol cite strong "execution" as the hallmark of his management style. A senior LG Group official said, "When Lyu discusses matters such as R&D and business promotion with executives and employees, the question he keeps asking is, 'So how are you going to do it?'" The official added, "If a business lacks concrete execution capability, rigorous expense calculations, and considerations of sustainability, it is virtually impossible to even report it in the first place—he is a CEO who knows field knowledge and market conditions well."
Born in 1967, Lyu graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in mechanical engineering and earned an MBA from the University of Illinois in the United States. He joined the GoldStar (now LG Electronics) home appliance research lab in 1989 and built his career in home appliances such as washers, refrigerators, and air conditioners, coming from a field engineer background. After handling key posts in washer and refrigerator production and manufacturing, he gained broad on-site experience centered on the Changwon plant, and he also led the home appliance organization during 2013–2014 when Chair Koo Kwang-mo received management training in Changwon. The prevailing analysis is that his rise to the CEO post of LG Electronics after 36 years reflects high marks for his field-oriented leadership that prioritizes execution.
His approach contrasts clearly with that of his predecessor, President Cho Joo-wan. While former President Cho, known within LG Electronics as a sales specialist, built his career around overseas subsidiaries, Lyu is a technology specialist who spent most of his career at business sites and in R&D. As profitability in core TV and home appliances deteriorated due to the global economic slump and U.S.-driven tariff uncertainty, unlike the previous management that sought escape routes in other fields, Lyu is calling for a restoration of the fundamental competitiveness of TVs and appliances and signaling a determination to confront the problem head-on.
At CES 2026, the world's largest IT trade show held in Las Vegas this month, Lyu's color was on full display. At CES 2026, he held his first press roundtable as CEO and set forth "securing fundamental competitiveness," "pivoting to a high-performance portfolio," and "building a growth structure based on profitability" as key themes. Notably, he mentioned measures to enhance competitiveness in production expenses. The consensus inside and outside LG is that he is signaling a refusal to avoid the fundamental challenges facing the appliance business, which is under threat from a surge of low-cost Chinese products.
◇ No. 1 in North American home appliances… outstanding execution
The decisive factor that earned Lyu the trust of Chair Koo Kwang-mo was that he proved the sustainability of the home appliance business in numbers despite the harsh global market. Leading the HS (Home Appliance Solution) Business Headquarters, Lyu drove portfolio restructuring and strengthened cost and production competitiveness to defend profitability, even as demand plunged after COVID-19 and low-priced competition from China intensified.
This stands out even more when compared with rival Samsung Electronics. LG Electronics' HS Business Headquarters posted operating margins of 6.6% in 2023 and 5.2% in 2024, and it is estimated to have maintained around 5% last year. In contrast, Samsung Electronics' Digital Appliances (DA) Division is analyzed to have hovered around the break-even point in recent years. The securities community assesses that LG Electronics achieved higher revenue than Samsung Electronics with lower marketing expenses by improving production efficiency and optimizing its product portfolio.
In particular, Lyu is cited as an executive who delivered strong results in the North American premium market—long unconquered by the heads of the appliance businesses at Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. Since the 2010s, both companies, mindful of the pursuit by Chinese appliance corporations, have called for expanding their share in premium markets such as North America and Europe, but many viewed the returns as unclear relative to investment. In the third quarter of last year, LG Electronics ranked No. 1 in the North American home appliance market with a cumulative market share of 21.8%.
Fast decision-making is cited as a hallmark of the leadership with which Lyu successfully led LG Electronics' appliance business. Executives and employees who worked with him say in unison that he is "someone who executes immediately when an idea comes to mind." A senior executive who has worked at LG Electronics for more than 20 years said, "He prioritizes data validation and rigorously checks every detail like artificial intelligence (AI), and once convinced, he moves at a remarkable speed—he is that type of CEO."
In business circles, Lyu's "speed of execution" is seen as aligned with the pragmatic management pursued by Chair Koo Kwang-mo. Park Joo-geun, head of Leaders Index, said, "Under Chair Koo Kwang-mo, the era of 'retainer management' centered on the former vice chair cohort has ended, and CEO-centered management composed of technology- and operations-focused experts has taken root," adding, "The selection of an engineer-type CEO like Lyu as the head of a key affiliate is a signal that the 'technology-centered Koo Kwang-mo system' has become even clearer."
◇ A breakthrough is urgent amid AI-driven upheaval
The market in front of Lyu is a series of uphill battles. The global TV and appliance slump is dragging on, and Chinese corporations are strengthening their presence not only in low-end but also in premium segments. Beyond defending profitability in TVs and appliances, Lyu faces a host of tasks, including expansion into AI data centers, automotive electronics, and enterprise solutions. Leveraging AI technology that LG is strategically nurturing at the group level to raise the overall value of products is also one of the urgent tasks.
An industry source said, "Most of President Lyu Jae-cheol's career is in appliances, but TVs, automotive electronics, and AI data centers are areas he must newly learn and experience," adding, "Amid an AI frenzy that is triggering upheaval in the global electronics and IT market, if LG Electronics fails to get onto the vast market spawned by AI, it could follow the path of Japanese electronics corporations that once dominated the global market but then collapsed rapidly."