Koo Cha-kyung (; 24 April 1925 – 14 December 2019) was a South Korean business executive. He was the chairman of

LG Group LG Corporation (or LG Group), formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar, is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi in 1947 and managed by successive generations of his family. It is the fourth-largest company in South Korea. ...

from 1970 until his retirement in 1995. He took the company public in 1970 and was chairman during the company's growth from 26 billion won to 30 trillion won.

Life

Koo was born 24 April 1925 in

Jinju Jinju (; ) is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Comman ...

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

Koo In-Hwoi Koo In-hwoi (, 26 August 1906 – 31 December 1969) was a South Korean businessman and the co-founder of LG Group,https://www.forbes.com/profile/koo-family-lg, retrieved 25 January 2025 one of the largest chaebols in South Korea. Life Koo In ...

, who went on to found

GoldStar GoldStar was a South Korean electronics company established in 1958. The corporate name was changed to LG Electronics and LG Cable on February 28, 1995, after merging with LG Chem, Lucky Chemical. LG Cable was spun off from LG Electronics and ch ...

and Lak Hui Chemical Industrial Corp, a plastics manufacturer and, later, a producer of toiletries. Koo began his career at Lak Hui where he managed production lines for 20 years. The elder Koo died on 31 December 1969 and left the company to his son as chairman. He took the company public in 1970, the first privately held firm to go public. During his tenure, the company's revenue increased significantly as it expanded globally across Asia, Europe and North America. In 1995, Koo Cha-kyung retired from the company and turned it over to his son,

Koo Bon-moo Koo or KOO may refer to: *Kōō (1389–1390), a Japanese era * KOO, a South African food brand *Koo (social network), an Indian microblogging and social networking service *''Koo Koo'', a 1981 Debbie Harry album People * Koo Chen-fu (1917–2005) ...

. He had another son, Koo Bon-neung, as well. Koo Cha-kyung died on 14 December 2019 at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koo, Cha-kyung 1925 births 2019 deaths People from Jinju South Korean businesspeople FC Seoul directors and chairmen Cha-kyung Koo family (South Korea)