Koo Pyong-hwoi, honorary chairman of E1 Corp. and younger brother of late LG founder Koo In-hwoi, died on Saturday due to chronic diseases. He was 86.

Born in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Koo, a graduate of the politics department at Seoul National University, started his career at Lucky Chemical (now LG Chem) in 1951.

He then later served as the chief of Lucky Chemical’s New York office, president of Honam Petrochemical (now GS Caltex) and vice chairman of LG Group and its founding advisor over the past 60 years.

Koo also built ground for the establishment of GS Caltex by going forward with a joint venture with the U.S.-based Caltex in 1967 and formed LPG firm Yeosu Energy (now E1) in 1984. E1 is now one of the nation’s leading LPG companies.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)