Jowon Tae "Accepts Fair Trade Commission Merger Approval... Committed to Overseas Review"

Korean Air 53rd Anniversary Founding Speech

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Cho Won-tae, Chairman of Korean Air, said on the 2nd, "The Fair Trade Commission has conditionally approved the corporate merger with Asiana Airlines," adding, "Now it is time to accept the result and do our best in the corporate merger reviews by overseas competition authorities."

In his "Korean Air 53rd Anniversary Founding Address" posted on the company bulletin board that morning, Chairman Cho stated, "Our task is to successfully acquire Asiana Airlines and become a dignified leader in the global aviation industry."

Chairman Cho explained that despite difficult days due to COVID-19 and other factors, the company recorded high performance. He said, "Last year, we achieved an astonishing performance with sales of 8.7534 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.0644 trillion won," and explained that this was made possible not only by the efforts of employees but also by the predecessors who have dedicated themselves to Korean Air since its founding, as well as the hearts of customers who love and support Korean Air.

He emphasized that it is now necessary to adapt first to the post-COVID-19 era. Chairman Cho explained, "Who adapts first to the changed business environment in the post-COVID-19 era will be the key to survival," adding, "We, who must attract passenger demand and enter the path to normalization, have to compete with an invisible opponent called 'untact'."

He continued, "Many companies are changing their business infrastructure based on untact," and explained, "It will not be easy to bring back customers who have already experienced the convenience of untact to their original place."

He stressed, "To respond to the rapidly changing business environment, we must pay attention to new information, promptly grasp customer demands, and adapt."

Along with this, he said that preparations for safety must also be thorough. He explained, "We must be faithful to the basics for safety that we have always done and are not neglecting now," adding, "We must also meet customers' heightened expectations for safety and quarantine."

Finally, Chairman Cho said, "We must not be consumed by helplessness that it cannot be helped because of the situation," and added, "We must abandon complacency that the situation will improve on its own and fill that place with hope and will to overcome the crisis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.