The LG flag waves at LG Electronics' headquarters in Seoul's Yeouido, July 7, 2023. Newsis

New LG Uplus CEO Hong Bum-shik / Courtesy of LG Uplus

LG Group companies reshuffled their executives, Thursday, promoting 121 individuals to place greater emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), bio, and clean tech. As part of the changes, telecom unit LG Uplus replaced its CEO to accelerate its transition into an AI service provider.

According to LG Uplus, its board appointed Hong Bum-shik, head of corporate strategy at the company's holding firm LG Corp., as the new CEO of the telecom company. He will replace Hwang Hyeon-sik, who has been serving the role since March 2021.

Hong is a Columbia University graduate and established his career as an IT strategist, serving as the head of the Korea branch of U.S. consulting firm Bain & Company and vice president of SK Telecom before he joined LG Group in 2019. Hong is one of the LG Group chairman's handpicked recruits in his first year as the leader of Korea's fourth-largest conglomerate.

LG Uplus said the new CEO will capitalize on his insight and extensive experience within the IT industry to assist the company's ongoing efforts to transform into a leading AI service provider.

LG CNS CEO Hyun Shin-gyoon / Courtesy of LG CNS

At LG CNS, CEO and Vice President Hyun Shin-gyoon was promoted to president in recognition of his contributions to the company's digital transformation (DX) efforts, particularly in the areas of AI and cloud technologies.

After being appointed as CEO in 2022, Hyun earned his credits in enhancing the company's global competitiveness as a specialized DX company. He joined LG CNS in 2017 and has been serving in the role of chief technology officer. From 2010 to 2017, he was the head of the business innovation group at LG Display.

At LG Electronics, senior vice president Kim Young-rak, the company's Korea marketing head was promoted as president. Unlike initial expectations, LG Electronics CEO and President Cho Joo-wan was not promoted as vice chairman in Thursday's reshuffle.

Among those promoted as executives in the latest reshuffle, 23 percent, or 28 people, are specialized in either AI, bio or clean tech, as part of the group's strategy to secure future capabilities and lay the foundations for sustainable growth. Particularly, the group named three AI specialists born in the 1980s as new vice presidents, citing their expertise and professional skills.

The group said the number of promoted executives in this year's regular reshuffle declined to 121 from last year's 139, and the number of those who newly became executives also fell to 86 from 99 during the same period.

"To cope with the fast-changing global market environment and growing uncertainties in the business landscape, the group has retained most of its experienced executives in their positions," LG Group said. "By streamlining the organization and reducing the scale of promotions, the group aims to enhance decision-making speed and respond swiftly to external changes."