Jahak Koo, Honorary Chairman of Our Home [사진=아워홈]
Our Home founder, Our Home Honorary Chairman Koo Ja-hak, has passed away.
Our Home announced that the former honorary chairman passed away on the 12th of old age. He is 92 years old.
Chairman Koo was born in 1930 as the third son of the late LG Group founder Koo In-hoe, graduated from the Naval Academy and retired as a major. In 1957, he married Lee Sook-hee, the third daughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung-cheol. At that time, the union of two large conglomerates created a topic of discussion. After that, Koo served as a director of CheilJedang and president of Hotel Shilla for regarding 10 years, working at the Samsung Group.
However, as Samsung announced its entry into the electronics industry in 1969 and a competitive structure was formed with LG (then Goldstar), Chairman Koo returned to the LG Group. Since then, he has served as a professional manager in the LG Group, serving as Lucky CEO, Goldstar President, Lucky Goldstar Group Vice Chairman, LG Semiconductor Chairman, LG Engineering Chairman, LG Engineering & Construction Chairman, etc.
In 2000, we established Our Home together with LG Distribution’s food service division independently from the group. During his 21 years as chairman, Our Home has grown into one of Korea’s leading group catering and food materials distribution companies by signing private contracts with LG and LS groups.
In 2016, the eldest son, Bon-seong Koo, then vice chairman, was appointed as CEO in 2016, and a succession structure was established. However, Vice Chairman Koo was handed over to trial on charges of damaging an opponent’s vehicle in retaliatory driving last year, and was sentenced to six months in prison and two years of probation, and was eventually fired from the company.
Currently, former Vice Chairman Koo holds a 38.6% stake in Our Home, and the three sisters Mihyeon, Myeongjin, and Jieun hold a combined 59.6% stake. Chairman Koo stepped down from the front line of management because he might not be re-appointed as an inside director at the Our Home Board of Directors in June last year. The outcome of the eldest son’s trial appears to have influenced his dismissal.
It is known that he did not actually participate in the management due to his old age while maintaining the title of chairman until recently. His survivors include his wife Lee Sook-hee, son Sung-seong (former Vice President Our Home), and daughters Mi-hyeon, Myeong-jin, and Ji-eun (Our Home Vice-President).
The mortuary is in Room 20 of the Funeral Hall of Asan Medical Center in Seoul, and the funeral is at 8 am on the 15th. The burial site is Gwangju Park Cemetery in Gyeonggi-do.
- reporter information
- Dai Kim
- dayi@ajunews.com
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