LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo shakes hands with an unnamed participant who came to the LG Techno Conference at a hotel in San Francisco, Calif., Sunday. / Courtesy of LG Group

By Kim Yoo-chul

LG Group is stepping up efforts to secure more talented individuals with a global mindset to lead in the development of patented technology. LG Chairman Koo Bon-moo himself went to the United States to support the move.

On Sunday, LG said it held the LG Techno Conference in San Francisco, California, with the group’s eight affiliates including LG Electronics, LG Display and LG Chem to hire ethnic Koreans studying there.

Koo and senior LG executives attended the event. ``At the conference, Koo said LG will invest more in R&D,’’ according LG spokeswoman Kim Min-jeong.

``This is the first time that our chairman was in the U.S. to hire new research personnel. Chairman Koo will continue to attend this kind of meeting, if necessary,’’ said Kim.

She went on to say company executives had one-on-one meetings with those invited by LG. She said the conference targeted Koreans in the United States who’ve earned either a master’s or doctoral degree in software, electrical engineering, chemicals, technology and materials-related majors.

The conglomerate recently established a technology center in Silicon Valley, increasing the number of its overseas centers to four. The others are in Russia, Israel and Germany,.

The facility in Silicon Valley is housing 20 proven technicians from LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG Innotek.

``I will help LG emerge as the technology company in order to lead customer innovation,’’ Koo was quoted as saying in the statement released before the conference.

Among key participants at the conference were LG Chem Vice Chairman Kim Bahn-suk, LG Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jo Joon-ho, LG CNS CEO Kim Dae-hoon, LG Innotek CEO Lee Woong-beom, LG Hausys CEO Han Myeong-ho, LG Siltron CEO Byeon Young-sam, LG Electronics TV Chief Kwon Hee-won and LG Electronics Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Ahn Seung-kwon.

Research and development (R&D) is now the key phrase for the entire LG Group after the conglomerate had briefly seen struggles in its key consumer electronic-related businesses.

After last year’s business struggles, the corporation’s R&D initiatives have begun to pay off because its in-house 3D technology has given it confidence to effectively battle its rivals and to regain its past corporate success.

LG’s film-based 3D TV ― which is the result of collaboration between LG Chem, LG Display and LG Electronics ― was rated as the top 3D TV by Consumer Report. Its 3D market share in the United States tripled in the fourth quarter of last year from the first.