LG Chem Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea; www.lgchem.com) announced that it will appoint H.C. (Hak Cheol) Shin, a 61-year-old Vice Chair and Executive Vice President of 3M, as the new Vice Chairman & CEO of LG Chem.
It is the first time LG Chem has nominated a CEO from outside of the company since its founding in 1947.
H.C. (Hak Cheol) Shin began as a technical service supervisor with 3M Korea in 1984 and joined 3M Philippines in 1995 to become a managing director of the branch. In 2011, he was eventually named as the executive vice president of 3M International Operations and became the first Korean business professional to lead the 3M overseas business.
Currently, LG Chem’s business area is developing from a wide range of petrochemical products to high-tech materials, components and biotechnology fields such as new materials, rechargeable batteries, IT & electronic materials, and life sciences.
In addition, there has been a needfor a sophisticated and systemized global business operating system due to the globalization of the petrochemical business, mainly the cash cow of the chemical company, along with the rapid expansion of overseas production and marketing of lithium-ion battery business.
“As the Vice Chair and Executive Vice President of 3M, H.C (Hak Cheol) Shin has gained global perspective and experience in operating global materials and components business. We were to recruit him as he is the right person capable of pre-emptively responding to rapidly changing business environment while leading the change in corporate culture and structure”, LG Chem said in a statement.
The company spokesman added, “Based on his accumulated experience in a world-renowned company, we expect LG Chem to take a further step forward in becoming a global innovative company”.