LS Group Chairman Christopher Koo.

LS Group Chairman Christopher Koo is pulling out all the stops to implement ESG management in earnest.
LS Corp., the holding company of LS Group, has expanded the conventional committee on transactions among subsidiaries into the ESG Committee under the umbrella of the holding company, LS Group said on Aug. 19.

Ye Jong-seok, an outside director of LS Corp.’s board, has been appointed to head the ESG Committee.

The committee will be manned by five members, including outside directors Kim Young-mok, Lee Dae-soo, and Chung Dong-min as well as Vice Chairman and CEO Lee Kwang-woo of LS Corp.

Chairman Ye Jong-seok of LS ESG Committee. (Photos: LS Group)

The ESG Committee will be charged with setting the direction and planning of ESG management strategies, approval of major policies and the reporting of major implementation activities and outcomes on top of the conventional responsibilities related to prior review and approval of transactions among subsidiaries.

LS Group conducted a six-month-long ESG diagnosis project targeting major subsidiaries before the ESG Committee was launched.

The project was designed to inaugurate an ESG committee specializing in its own ESG guidelines and regimes.

LS plans to draw up strategies and put them into practice. LS Group’s ESG management is in accordance with LG Chairman Koo’s management tenet.

In his New Year’s message, LS Group Chairman Koo said, “LS will make a virtuous structure of contributing to the public interests and profitability, and promote sustainable growth between companies and society by yielding outcomes in new industry sectors such as LS’ smart technologies, including photovoltaic power-ESS system, smart grid and EV parts as soon as possible.“

LS Cable & System (LS C&S), a cable & system unit of LS Group, declared a vision of ESG management in June.

The company is implementing the RE100 initiative on a gradual basis by expanding the offshore wind power business.

LS C&S is expanding its turf in the photovoltaic power business. LS C&S became the first Korean company to develop 22.9kV undersea cables and DC cables for photovoltaic power by making the most of its expertise in the undersea cable sector.

The company supplied cables for about 30 photovoltaic power farms in Korea, including those in Namjeong, Goheung, and Solar City in Haenam.

LS C&S has been expanding the business related to EVs as the company struck long-term deals to supply aluminum cables for EVs and cables for drive motors to global automakers and mechatronic solution providers.

LS ELECTRIC is stepping on the gas to implement the next-generation micro-grid business, which can make small areas self-sufficient with power by making the most of convergence smart solutions, combining its technology power it has accumulated in the power and automation sectors as well as ICT.

As part of its green energy businesses, LS ELECTRIC dedicated and put into commercial operation megawatt-class photovoltaic power plants connected with ESSs abroad like Hokkaido and Hanamizki, Japan, and including a 94MW one in Yeongam, the largest capacity one in Korea.

The company was recognized for its technology prowess in efforts to preserve energy and expand renewable energies by making Seogeocha-do in Jeollanam-do the world’s biggest DC energy self-sufficient island in 2019.

LS ELECTRIC is joining forces in the development of related technologies after signing MOUs with a variety of companies in Korea and abroad to comply with the government’s Green New Deal and realize the hydrogen economy.

In August, LS ELECTRIC teamed up with Doosan Fuel Cell, Hanwha Power System and Hanwha Asset Management to develop fuel-cell business models using unused energy from city gas facilities.

Under the deal, they are jointly engaged in exchanges of technologies using untapped energies, such as the development of business models related to convergence energy efficiency and related total financial services.

LS-Nikko Copper has declared ESG management by requesting an evaluation to obtain the Copper Mark certification for responsible copper production.

LS-Nikko Copper became the first Asian company to apply for Copper Mark, which was launched by the International Copper Association in 2019.

LS-Nikko Copper is implementing “Onsan Digital Smelter, (ODS),” a smart factory to optimize the operation of the Onsan smelting plant through automation of all processes related to the production of the plant.

Onsan smelting plant, with the world’s second biggest production capacity, aims to become the world’s first smelter in the world boasting not only production efficiency and souped-up safety, but also environmental protection.