LG Electronics replaces CEO in search for growth momentum

New LG Electronics CEO Lyu Jae-cheol

LG Electronics named its home appliance division head Lyu Jae-cheol as its new CEO, with Cho Joo-wan stepping down from the post after running the company for four years.

LG Electronics announced Thursday that its board had approved appointing Lyu, previously president of Home Appliance Solution division, as the new CEO, in a recognition of his role leading the company to stable sales growth in its home appliance business.

The appointment came as a surprise, as the outgoing Cho had been widely expected to be promoted to vice chairman due to his role in guiding LG Electronics’ shift from a consumer appliance-focused portfolio to a business-to-business (B2B) structure and diversifying its revenue streams.

LG Electronics said Cho has “laid the foundation for the company’s sustainable growth” and “decided to step down to enable a desirable transition.”

Lyu is a career engineer who joined GoldStar, the predecessor of LG Electronics, in 1989. He spent more than half of his career in research and development, and later leveraged his deep technical expertise to lead business operations and strengthen LG’s competitiveness in home appliances.

Since 2021, he has been leading the home appliance division, where he helped maintain stable growth despite cut-throat competition in the global electronics market. Over the past three years, the division achieved an average annual sales growth rate of 7 percent.

Under his leadership, LG Electronics has shown particularly strong performance in the North American market. According to market tracker TraQ.line, the company secured the top position in the U.S. home appliance market with a 21.8 percent cumulative market share in the third quarter of this year.

Lyu also helped LG’s platform-based home appliance business, which offers software upgrades for appliances. Launched in Korea in 2022 and later expanded to North America and Europe, the program has exceeded 20 million cumulative upgrades worldwide.

Then-LG Electronics Home Appliance Solution Division Head Lyu Jae-cheol introduces the company's home appliances during the IFA 2025 electronics show in Berlin, Sept. 5. Courtesy of LG Electronics

The company is accelerating its appliance subscription program business, with revenue from January to September reaching 2 trillion won. Under Lyu’s leadership, the home appliance division posted sales of 6.58 trillion won and an operating profit of 365.9 billion won in the third quarter, up 4.7 percent and 3.2 percent from a year earlier.

The program played a key role in enabling LG Electronics to deliver record-breaking quarterly earnings despite external risks such as U.S. tariff pressures and rising shipping costs.

Lyu will be tasked with expanding visible results in B2B areas such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. To assist Lyu, LG Electronics vehicle components solutions promoted division head Eun Seok-hyun and energy solutions division head Lee Jae-sung to president.

In recent months, LG Electronics has been making aggressive cost-cutting efforts, including launching a companywide voluntary redundancy program, to cope with external challenges. With the business environment expected to remain challenging next year, key tasks for Lyu will include the company from outside pressures and turning around the company’s loss-making TV business.

New LG Chem CEO Kim Dong-choon / Courtesy of LG Chem

Notable changes were made in other LG Group affiliates. LG Chem promoted its advanced material business head Kim Dong-choon to president and appointed him as the new CEO, replacing outgoing Vice Chairman Shin Hak-cheol.

LG Chem said it decided to appoint Kim to improve the company’s business portfolio in an increasingly uncertain market environment. Along with other major petrochemical companies in Korea, LG Chem has been struggling with weak performance in recent months due to an oversupply of petrochemicals from China and the global economic slowdown.

Kim’s appointment can be interpreted as part of efforts to shift the company's focus from traditional petrochemicals toward advanced materials. Kim, a specialist in semiconductor materials, was promoted to president just one year after becoming executive vice president.

At LG Innotek, CEO Moon Hyuk-soo was promoted to president, recognizing his contributions to the company’s improved presence in automotive and robotic components.