Zenith R&D Head Jong Kim Named LG SVP

Dr. Jong Kim, president of the Zenith Research and Development Lab, has been named senior vice president of Zenith’s parent company, LG Electronics.

The company said Kim’s new position, as one of LG’s most senior executives in the Western Hemisphere, reflects the important role of the U.S. R&D lab, which includes work on groundbreaking technologies for next-generation broadcasting standards; for hospitality, health care and digital signage systems; and for automotive electronics, among other high-profile LG technology programs.

Kim has been Zenith president since 2005 after serving as VP, Zenith R&D, from 2000 to 2004. A key contributor to Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) digital television standards, he joined Zenith Electronics LLC in 1990. (LG acquired Zenith in 1999.) Kim started his career as a research engineer at LG Electronics in 1983.

He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of Alabama and his M.S. and B.S. degrees in electronics engineering at Seoul National University.

He is the co-author of numerous papers published in leading technical journals, including the IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, the Journal of Society of Motion Pictures of America and IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting.

“Jong Kim and the Zenith R&D Lab are key contributors to LG’s consumer electronics technology leadership in the United States and around the world,” said Dr. Skott Ahn, president and chief technology officer, LG Electronics. “Of special significance right now is Dr. Kim’s direction of the U.S. team, in close collaboration with LG R&D labs in Korea, on the development of next-gen broadcasting technologies for the emerging ATSC 3.0 standard.”