LG Corp. established as Lak-Hui Chemical Industrial Corp. in 1947.In 1952, Lak-Hui (pronounced "Lucky", currently LG Chem) became the first Korean company to enter the plastics industry. As the company expanded its plastic business, it established GoldStar Co. Ltd. (currently LG Electronics Inc.) in 1958. Both companies Lucky and GoldStar merged and formed Lucky Goldstar.

GoldStar produced South Korea's first radio. Many consumer electronics were sold under the brand name GoldStar, while some other household products (not available outside South Korea) were sold under the brand name of Lucky. The Lucky brand was famous for hygiene products such as soaps and HiTi laundry detergents, but the brand was mostly associated with its Lucky and Perioe toothpaste. Even today, LG continues to manufacture some of these products for the South Korean market, such as laundry detergent.

In 1997, to compete better in the Western market, the Lucky-Goldstar Corporation was renamed "LG". The company also associates the letters LG with the company's tagline "Life's Good". Since 2009, LG has owned the domain name LG.com.