LG Group Chairman Kwang-mo Koo (003550.KS) urged strong innovation, saying "we are standing at an inflection point where a new future is opening, and creating a better future is both our responsibility and opportunity."
Koo emphasized the need for new success formulas, citing the advancement of artificial intelligence, intensifying competition from Chinese companies, and changing customer values.
On January 22, Koo sent a video message titled "Hello, this is Kwang Mo Koo" as his 2026 New Year's address to LG employees worldwide via email.
"I want to express my gratitude to all of you who have worked toward challenge and change with customers in mind this year," Koo said.
"We are dreaming of a future unimaginable without LG and moving forward step by step to make it a reality, but the world is changing just as fast as our efforts," Koo said. "The paradigm and rules of competition are shifting, and customer expectations are rising higher, so we must leap forward with new innovation beyond our past success formulas."
Koo stressed that "innovation is not just about improving customers' lives today, but about creating value that future customers will need," adding that "our thinking and actions must change, and 'selection and concentration' is the starting point."
"First, we must select one core value that reaches customers' hearts," Koo said. "Only when we clarify that one core value can we set the direction for innovation and unite our strength."
"We must dig into what we have chosen to a level others consider impossible," he said. "That intense concentration creates an experience where customers feel 'this is truly different' and completes outstanding value that changes the world's expectations."
Koo assessed that LG stands in the middle of transformation and shared expert interviews covering changes in technology paradigms, organization, competition, and customer perspectives.
In the video, George Westerman, principal research scientist at MIT, said, "A shift in technology paradigm is approaching with technologies like generative AI. Looking at how electricity and the internet have changed our lives, a comparable level of paradigm shift will occur across all aspects of life."
Westerman added, "In an era of radical change led by AI, competitors will also move much more agilely, and customer expectations and investor demands will evolve much faster. The more successful a large company is, the faster it must change."
Sunil Gupta, professor at Harvard Business School, said in the video, "The fundamentals of business strategy are being shaken not only for startups but also for global tech companies and established corporations. Even with significant capital and resources, it is difficult to achieve results with existing methods alone. Companies can only survive and grow by breaking past frameworks and adopting new thinking and innovative approaches."
Jeon Mi-young, CEO of Trend Korea Company, said, "Consumers want a much higher level of experience and are carefully weighing value and meaning rather than simply comparing price or quality. Ultimately, only brands that can clearly explain why this price and what differentiated experience they provide will survive."
"We are standing at an inflection point where a new future is opening, and creating a better future is both our responsibility and opportunity," Koo said. "Innovation that selects the value that will make customers smile 10 years from now and fully concentrates our today on it is what LG can do best."
Since 2019, the year after his inauguration, Koo has emphasized "customers" as the core direction for LG in his New Year's addresses, continuing his "customer value management" message.
Koo has been strongly calling for innovation since last year, emphasizing changes in the business environment and customer expectations. In last year's New Year's address, he mentioned LG Group's "DNA of challenge and change" that has continued since the company's founding, saying, "Let us build a future unimaginable without LG on the foundation of our customer-focused mindset and innovation."
At a meeting of company presidents in March, he delivered a strong message of renewal, saying, "Change is no longer a matter of choice but something we must do for 'survival,'" and "there is not much 'golden time' left."
