LG breeds millions of native honeybees to save threatened ecosystem

Kim Dae-rip, Korea’s first master of native bees, holds a beehive at a native honeybee habitat created by LG near Hwadamsup in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Courtesy of LG

In the dense, protected woodlands of Mount Jeonggwang, just outside Seoul, a massive biological resurrection is quietly underway.

LG, the Korean conglomerate better known for consumer electronics, said Wednesday that its ecological preservation initiative has successfully quadrupled the local population of the endangered Korean native wild honeybee from 1 million to 4 million within a single year.

The initiative, launched last year by the conglomerate’s environmental arm, the LG Sangrok Foundation, established a specialized sanctuary near the Hwadam Forest arboretum. Working in close collaboration with Kim Dae-rip, designated as the nation's foremost master of traditional beekeeping, the project stabilized the initial colony at 2 million last year before achieving its current milestone of 4 million. The ultimate target is to double the population annually through 2027.

Unlike imported Western honeybees, Korea’s native wild bees play an irreplaceable role in the local ecosystem, specifically pollinating indigenous flora that other species cannot. However, their numbers plummeted by roughly 98 percent following a devastating 2010 outbreak of Sacbrood virus. Compounded by accelerating extreme weather, the species had reached a threshold where self-sustained recovery was deemed impossible.

"The extinction of honeybees directly signals a global food security crisis," Kim said, noting that this shared urgency sparked the venture. To ensure long-term viability, LG is aggressively expanding adjacent plantations of bee-friendly flora to secure adequate pollen and nectar sources. Having reached the sanctuary's optimal carrying capacity, the company plans to distribute future generations of bees to commercial apiaries devastated by recent colony collapses.

The project also carries a unique human dimension.

Partnering with Become Friends, a prominent social enterprise, LG is leveraging the expanded colonies to run apiculture training and employment programs designed for individuals with developmental disabilities.

This ecological drive aligns with a broader corporate mandate. LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has increasingly tied the group’s environmental, social and governance strategy to climate resilience and biodiversity. The effort mirrors the legacy of the late Chairman Koo Bon-moo, who established the foundation in 1997 to restore highly endangered indigenous species, including the oriental stork and the Asian box turtle.

LG said it launched the initiative to coincide with the United Nations' World Bee Day on Wednesday, reflecting a broader corporate shift toward viewing biodiversity as an economic and ecological necessity, rather than a corporate social responsibility goal.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.