
LG unveils hall of fame to celebrate customer-driven innovation
LG Group has inaugurated a hall of fame honoring life-changing innovations the conglomerate has achieved -- a symbolic gesture encapsulating Chair Koo Kwang-mo's management philosophy of prioritizing customer value.
The new installation was unveiled at the LG Academy in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, during the 2025 LG Awards on Wednesday.
It serves not only as a tribute to past recipients of the prestigious award, but also as a cultural beacon to inspire innovation and a customer-centric focus across the conglomerate's workforce.
'By bringing together the efforts of innovation accumulated over the years, we have established this hall of fame here at LG Academy,' the chairperson said at the event. 'The names and achievements inscribed here will serve as a guidebook and catalyst for many LG employees, inspiring challenge and passion.'
Koo reaffirmed the company's commitment to sustainable innovation, emphasizing, 'The journey toward creating distinctive future value will continue. The most important standard that must always be prioritized is the customer. Let us evolve LG's DNA of challenge and transformation, create new firsts and bests and shape a future where LG is even more loved by customers.'
Established in 2019 following Koo's succession, the LG Awards honor teams and individuals who have driven customer experience innovation through breakthrough products and services. Over the past seven editions, the awards have recognized 492 teams and over 4,000 employees.
The hall of fame displays plaques commemorating recipients of its "Grand Prize for Customer Delight." LG also plans to install dedicated award zones within its group affiliates, including renaming key meeting rooms after grand prize winners to foster pride and motivation among employees.
Award winners receive cash prizes and opportunities to attend overseas workshops for further development.
'While there are numerous strategic considerations amid growing global uncertainties such as tariff barriers, the foremost priority remains unwavering commitment to customer-driven innovation,' an LG Group official said.
This year's LG Awards honored 87 teams and 680 individuals, including three grand prize winners for customer delight, along with 39 for customer satisfaction and 45 for customer empathy.
The evaluation process was broadened to reflect diverse customer voices -- from homemakers and professionals to foreign nationals, millennials and Generation Z.
Employee participation in the judging process also increased from 10,000 last year to 14,000 this year, indicating deepening internal engagement.
yeeun@heraldcorp.com
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Korea Herald
16 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Digital gifting was convenient — until it started to feel like new social obligation
'Too easy to ignore': Korean Gen Z on the perks and pressures of online gifting culture Twenty-three-year-old Kim begins her day the way many young Koreans do — by checking her phone. As she scrolls through unread messages on the messenger app KakaoTalk, a small gift icon appears next to an old classmate's profile. It's his birthday. Kim hesitates. They haven't spoken in over a year, but she remembers he sent her a delivery food coupon last fall. After a moment of deliberation, she returns the gesture with a Starbucks "gifticon" of equal value. That tiny icon, built into Korea's most-used messaging app, is part of KakaoTalk Gifts, a feature that lets users send anything from coffee coupons to luxury goods. Among the most popular offerings are gifticons — digital vouchers redeemable for specific items like beverages or desserts. This isn't a fringe phenomenon. According to Kakao, the company's prepaid commerce balance, or money preloaded for gift-related purchases, reached 96.6 billion won ($74 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 3.5-fold increase from a year before. Nationwide, e-coupon services, including gifticons, formed a market worth 8.6 trillion won in the same year. With the rise of these services, digital gift-giving has evolved into a kind of social currency, especially for Generation Z, or those born from 1997 to 2012. In a survey of 100 Koreans in their 20s active on social media, conducted by The Korea Herald this year, over 90 percent reported using online gifting platforms. Nearly 97 percent cited convenience as the top reason. Twenty percent said they spend between 30,000 to 50,000 won each month on digital gifts, while another 20 percent spend up to 70,000 won — roughly equivalent to a full day's work on minimum wage. 'It's really just a digital extension of what we already do,' said Kim, 26, who recently graduated from university. 'My family gives and receives envelopes for Seollal, for Chuseok, for weddings, for first birthdays. We've always had a give-and-take culture.' What's changed, she said, is how automated and accessible it's become. 'Kakao will send you reminders. 'Don't forget to celebrate!' Then it shows you a perfectly curated list of gifts. Rice cakes, cake sets, bubble tea … all just a click away.' Trapped by politeness But many also admit that the act no longer feels optional. 'The gift option makes it weird to just congratulate someone's birthday with words,' said Jeon, 25, a bartender in Seoul. 'There's this silent expectation. If you don't send something, it feels like you're being cold — even if you're just not that close anymore.' Jeon shared that she's sometimes felt 'held hostage by politeness,' especially when the recipient is someone she no longer has a meaningful connection with. 'I once got a Baskin-Robbins coupon from a girl I hadn't seen since high school. I appreciated it, but then I felt guilty. Her birthday came two months later, and I ended up sending her something back, even though we hadn't talked in years.' Twenty-nine-year-old Kim, a graduate student juggling classes and part-time work, said the absence of a 'no thanks' button makes it worse. 'You either ghost the message, which feels rude, or accept that you owe them.' Kim added that the emotional toll doesn't end with the gift itself. 'If someone gives me a coupon, I feel like I have to reply, thank them, keep the conversation going ... even if we're not actually close. It's not friendship — it's etiquette.' Park, 25, a user experience design student, described it as a cycle of guilt. 'You want to stop, but then you remember they sent you something last year. I've definitely sent coffee coupons out of guilt.' Some even confessed to 'strategic gifting' — sending small tokens to maintain surface-level connections or avoid awkward silences. 'It's emotional labor,' Park said. 'But instead of doing it in person, we're doing it through vouchers.' Park, 28, recently returned to college after military service and a gap year. As an unpaid intern preparing for graduate school, he finds the economics of gift-giving difficult to justify. 'Most of the gifts my friends wish for are things like convenience store sets, desserts or drink coupons,' he said. 'One item doesn't cost much, but when you have 20 friends ... it adds up.' Park sometimes scrolls through friends' Kakao profiles to check their wish lists, trying to find gifts that look meaningful but cost less. 'It's like tactical generosity,' he said, laughing. 'I want to seem thoughtful, but I'm broke.' He added that digital gifts also create a strange kind of visibility. 'Everyone sees that you didn't send something. You start comparing. Did this friend get more? Did I forget someone?' New rules for digital giving? As gifting continues to digitize, some Gen Z Koreans are beginning to question the expectations surrounding it. A few are starting to set personal rules: no reciprocal gifts, limits on birthday spending or silent 'likes' instead of presents. 'I've started replying with a message instead of a gift,' said Jeon. 'Sometimes I say, 'Let's grab coffee in person next time.' If they're real friends, they'll understand.' Others are trying to step back from gifting altogether. 'I told my close friends: no gifts this year. Let's just meet,' said Kim. 'Honestly, that made us closer.'


Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
LG chief doubles down on EV battery push with Indonesia visit
From batteries to TVs, Koo Kwang-mo outlines LG's five-year strategy during India, Indonesia site tours LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo reaffirmed the conglomerate's commitment to growing its battery businesses as he visited HLI Green Power, a 50:50 battery joint venture by LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group in Indonesia, earlier this month. According to LG on Monday, Koo toured the battery cell production line at HLI Green Power and highlighted the need for solidarity and cooperation with partners to break through a stalled electric vehicle market. Located in Karawang, West Java, as the country's first EV battery manufacturing plant, HLI Green Power began operation in April last year with an annual production capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, which is enough to power about 150,000 EVs. The joint battery plant posted a 96 percent yield rate within four months of the start of mass production. The LG chief called on the employees at the battery joint venture to gain a competitive edge and stand out in the market. Commemorating his visit, Koo wrote on a battery cell product that he hopes the battery foothold will become 'the heart of future mobility.' The visit to HLI Green followed Koo's remarks during a shareholders' meeting in March where he emphasized that LG will nurture the battery industry as a key business for itself and a future core industry for Korea. He previously visited an Ultium Cells factory, an EV battery joint venture between LG Energy Solution and General Motors, in Tennessee in June last year. 'Although the EV chasm is lasting longer than expected and the competition (with Chinese battery makers) is heating up, (Koo's visit) shows his determination to thoroughly prepare for (post-EV-chasm) times even at a moment like this,' said an LG official. The LG chief then visited LG Electronics' production and research and development offices as well as local retail stores for home appliances in Cibitung, West Java, to review the overall value chain. LG Electronics -- which produces TVs, monitors and signage at its Cibitung site for Asia, the Middle East and Africa -- established an R&D office near the Cibitung plant to mark the area as an outpost targeting the Indonesian and Southeast Asian markets. During his visit to the Cibitung plant, Koo inspected an autonomous production line for TVs and discussed LG Electronics' global R&D operational strategies for the future. The LG leader also went to Electronic City, a local retail store, to check the sales performance of LG Electronics' products, receive customer feedback about regional products, and inspect Chinese rivals' market strategies in the Southeast Asian home appliances market. 'While it is important to respond to competition, which is getting fiercer right now, we need to come up with strategies for our survival five years from now and identify the decisions we should make and where we should focus to secure our distinctive competitiveness,' said Koo in a meeting with local LG Electronics executives and employees in Jakarta.


Korea Herald
2 days ago
- Korea Herald
LG chief visits Indonesia battery plant to inspect group's EV transition efforts
LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo has visited Indonesia this month to inspect the group's battery manufacturing and research operations, according to the group Monday, underscoring efforts to strengthen its competitiveness amid a temporary slowdown in global electric vehicle demand. According to group officials, Koo toured the production lines of Hyundai LG Indonesia Green Power, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group, located near Jakarta, earlier this month. The 320,000 square-meter facility, with an annual capacity of 10 gigawatt-hours, is Indonesia's first EV battery cell plant and is a key pillar in LG's global battery production network. During the visit, Koo called on employees to focus on securing differentiated competitiveness for LG's batteries, particularly in comparison with global rivals, and emphasized the importance of close collaboration with partners to overcome the slowdown in global EV demand growth. As part of the visit, the LG chief also toured LG Electronics' production and research complex in Cibitung, West Java, where products such as TVs, monitors and signage systems are manufactured. Since establishing a local research unit next to the Cibitung plant in 2023, LG Electronics has built an integrated base that connects research, production and sales operations, using it as a base for targeting the broader Southeast Asian market. At LG Electronics' Jakarta sales office, Koo met with local executives to discuss customer needs, distribution trends and competitive dynamics in Southeast Asia. LG has been ramping up efforts to tap into growth opportunities in the so-called Global South that includes India, Indonesia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, seeking to ride the economic momentum in these emerging markets. (Yonhap)