Birth of GS Group
- GS Group decides to go its own way parting with LG Group


The GS Group, which separated from LG Group, held a ceremony on March 31st to declare its management ideas and new corporate identity with over 300 people attending at the GS Tower building in southern Seoul. LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo also attended the meeting to congratulate the brand new business group on its decision to go separate ways with the LG Group, wrapping up 57 years of their partnership.
Hur Chang-soo, chairman of the GS Group, stressed in his speech at the ceremony, that the new business group will strive for customer satisfaction as its top management goal as a partner to make their lives easier and pleasurable. The group will also become a workplace where workers will be able to achieve their dreams and ideas, winning the trust of society with transparent management, and outstanding performance as a corporate citizen.
He said GS will strive to be a top business group all round, especially, in the areas that have to do with customers with GS brand representing love and trust. "Let's make Value No.1 GS," the chairman said.
LG Group Chairman Koo, in his congratulatory speech, recalled that LG and GS overcame various difficulties in the past half century and have become what they are today, Korea's leading business groups. He said, "let us continue to be good partners towards becoming first-class business groups, further developing an existing close relationship between the two conglomerates".
In the meantime, GS declared its management ideas and joint values to perpetuate them as the group's identity characteristics.
GS announced its management ideas as "Creating life's new value, dreaming about tomorrow with customers." The corporate ideals are being taken as a strong resolve for GS to create life's value for an energetic tomorrow with customers always thinking like their family members.
With the announcement of a new corporate identity, GS will promote a plan that will bind employees of its affiliates together and boost synergistic effect among them. In order to achieve their goals, the group plans to hold joint marketing programs among affiliates and has kicked off publicity and ad campaigns to publicize GS brands of products both at home and abroad from next month. From April 1, GS affiliates such as GS-Caltex, GS Retail, GS Home Shopping and GS Construction will hold a joint event called, GS Festival for Happy Meetings.
The festival was to include such events as "Be owners of GS," "A day like fool's day with GS" on April 1 Fool's Day and "Look for GS in Life," which will include a photo contest.
The new CI of GS Group was the creation of Landor Co. of the United States, specializes in logos and the company has taken into consideration such factors as GS affiliates businesses, vision and their relationship with customers. The CI contains three colors, orange, green and blue. Orange signifies dynamics of energy, green the growth and blue the transparency of the group's management to become a leading group reaching for top.
GS Group has decided to spend 200 billion won to publicize its independent operation. The group announced that it will hold various prize events in April. The group said the cost for replacing name boards at some 3,300 service stations of GS-Caltex Oil Refinery and 1,800 convenience store outlets of GS25, together with ad expenses would amount over 200 billion won. Prizes at those events included an apartment valued at 500 million won and 20,000 shares of GS Holding valued at 500 million won, shopping bags, flower seeds and tissues given to some 11 million customers.
The new conglomerate has 15 affiliates including GS-Caltex, GS Retail, and GS Construction, whose combined total sales totaled 22 trillion won last year, which are targeted to be increased to 24 trillion won this year. nw