GoldStar Secures a 5 Million Mark Loan from West Germany for Electricity Meter Manufacturing

In February 1962, GoldStar Co., Ltd., the predecessor of LG Electronics, entered into a financing agreement with Fuhrmeister, a West German company, to obtain a non-government-guaranteed loan of 5 million Deutsche Marks. The financing was intended to support the construction of a manufacturing facility for cumulative watt-hour meters, devices used to measure electrical energy consumption. Established in 1958 by Koo In-hwoi, GoldStar had already achieved important milestones in radio, electric fan, and telephone manufacturing. The agreement represented a significant step in the company's industrial expansion, providing access to foreign capital for developing more advanced electrical equipment manufacturing capabilities. The agreement became an important milestone in GoldStar's technological development and international business relationships, demonstrating its ability to secure overseas financing for industrial investment. The planned facility supported the company's diversification into electrical measurement equipment at a time when South Korea was expanding its industrial and electricity infrastructure. This investment contributed to GoldStar's subsequent achievement in November 1963, when it manufactured South Korea's first domestically produced cumulative electricity meter. The financing arrangement also reflected the growing importance of international industrial cooperation in South Korea's economic development. These early investments helped establish the manufacturing foundation of GoldStar, which later evolved into LG Electronics, one of the world's major electronics and home appliance manufacturers