LG’s Leadership Legacy Challenged in Court

Chairman of LG Group Koo Kwang Mo is currently embroiled in an inheritance dispute with his mother and younger sister. Each time the lawsuit over the division of the late Chairman Koo Bon Moo’s assets is reported, the family feud is brought back into the spotlight.

Particularly, the fact that the current chairman is adopted has attracted attention. The chairman willingly accepted his uncle as his father to succeed as the eldest son of the group.

The late chairman had one son and two daughters with his wife, Kim Young Sik. His eldest son, Koo Won Mo, tragically passed away in an accident in 1994.

When his only son and heir left the world, the late Chairman had a child at the age of 51, a daughter named Koo Yeon Soo.

Eventually, in 2004, the late chairman adopted Koo, the eldest son of his younger brother, Koo Bon Neung, Chairman of Heesung Group. LG explained that this was done following Confucian family values, which emphasized the need for a son to continue the family line and handle family affairs, especially since the late Chairman had two daughters. At that time, the current chairman was 26 years old.

In 1976, the late chairman started his career at Lucky Geumsung Corporation, served as the head of the Chicago branch in the U.S., and was the chief of the overseas management headquarters before becoming a director at Geumsung in 1987. He then became an auditor at Heesung Metal in 1988, a vice president at Sangnong Corporation in 1990, and a vice chairman at Heesung Metal in 1992. He became the chairman of the newly separated Heesung Group in 1996.

Heesung Group currently owns five affiliates: Heesung Electronics, Heesung Chemicals, Heesung Catalyst, Heesung PM Tech, and Heesung Polymer. The most crucial affiliate, Heesung Electronics, engages in the production of electronic components such as BLUs, lamps, and LCD modules.

Heesung’s chairman is known as a reclusive manager, as he rarely presents himself as the group owner.

Heesung Group’s chairman made his name known to the public when he took on the role of KBO President in 2011. Like other members of the LG family, Koo is known for his profound knowledge and love for baseball.

Koo is widely recognized for his positive contributions to Korean baseball, including expanding the KBO brand and successfully launching the 9th and 10th professional baseball teams without significant issues.

However, he also faced criticism for not taking any measures against various scandals, including game manipulation, corruption, bribery, drug use, and accidents.

Eventually, in 2017, he promised to resign along with then-Secretary-General Yang Hae Young during the National Assembly’s Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee’s parliamentary inspection.

In October 2014, there were suspicions that the current was admitted to Seoul Academy International School as a domestic student with permanent residency qualifications, even though he did not have overseas permanent residency when he transferred from a private elementary school in 2009.

The current chairman explained that he had acquired permanent residency in Singapore for his contributions to the Singaporean economy and submitted it to the school a year later.

There’s growing interest in whether Chairman Koo Bon Neung, from the LG family that strictly adheres to the principle of eldest son succession, will pass on the management rights to his daughter Koo Yeon Seo.