GS Group announced a sweeping 2026 leadership reshuffle on Wednesday, elevating two core energy business chiefs to vice chairs as the conglomerate prepares for a major strategic reset in the global energy transition.
The promotions of Hur Yong-soo, CEO of GS Energy, and Hur Sae-hong, CEO of GS Caltex, to vice chair are the centerpiece of the shake-up. The two executives represent the third and fourth generations of the larger GS and LG founding family lineage, a fact that underscores the group’s intent to strengthen family leadership at a pivotal moment for the business.
GS Chair Hur Tae-soo said the group must break from convention to navigate “massive shifts in the business landscape,” emphasizing that the newly promoted leaders are being entrusted with “bold execution and responsibility” as GS pushes through structural changes in the global energy sector.
The move establishes a three-vice-chair system, with the two newly promoted leaders joining GS Corp. Vice Chair Hong Soon-ki, who was promoted to the role last year. Together, they will support Chair Hur in driving the group’s next phase of growth and transformation.
Hur Yong-soo has led GS’s core energy businesses since 2019, overseeing expansion across electric power, district heating, liquefied natural gas and resource development. He has spearheaded major growth initiatives, including the acquisition of With Incheon Energy, the launch of EV charging subsidiary GS Chargevy, a joint investment in the Northeast Asia LNG Hub Terminal, and a large-scale LNG power project in Vietnam.
His promotion to GS Energy vice chair highlights GS’s ambition to strengthen its competitiveness as a major power supplier in the AI era and to expand new growth engines in the global energy transition.
Hur Sae-hong has spent his career across refining, petrochemicals and lubricants, previously serving as head of GS Caltex Singapore, refinery operations chief and petrochemical division leader. Since becoming CEO in 2019, he has pushed deep operational reforms and digital transformation initiatives such as BX (Business Transformation), DAX (Digital & AI Transformation) and GX (Green Transformation).
His expanded role comes as the refining and petrochemical sectors face one of their most challenging global downturns while transitioning toward cleaner energy systems.
Alongside the top promotions, GS named nine new CEOs, many of them born in the 1970s, marking one of the group’s most significant generational shifts in years. Senior headquarters executives were also assigned to key on-site subsidiaries, including GS Entec, GS Networks and Boryeong LNG Terminal, to strengthen execution, shorten decision-making distance and enhance responsiveness to market shifts.
GS said the 38-person reshuffle reflects its strategy to accelerate decision-making, empower younger leaders and fortify leadership across its energy, infrastructure and trading businesses as it navigates rapid structural changes.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
