Worst Deficit KEPCO, Including Subsidiaries, Holds 2.5 Trillion KRW Performance Bonus Festival Over 5 Years

Korea Electric Power Corporation Naju Headquarters View.

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and its 11 subsidiaries, which are recording the largest deficit in history this year, have received a total of 2.5 trillion won in performance bonuses over the past five years.

According to data submitted by KEPCO and its 11 subsidiaries to Park Soo-young, a member of the National Assembly's Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Enterprises Committee from the People Power Party, the total performance bonuses paid over the past five years (2017-2021) amounted to 2.4868 trillion won.

The 11 subsidiaries include Korea South-East Power, Korea Southern Power, Korea East-West Power, Korea Western Power, Korea Midland Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Korea Electric Power Technology, KEPCO KDN, KEPCO KPS, KEPCO MCS, and KEPCO Nuclear Fuel.

The largest amount of performance bonuses was paid by KEPCO with 862.5 billion won, followed by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power with 523.3 billion won, Korea Electric Power Technology with 210.8 billion won, KEPCO KDN with 163.5 billion won, and KEPCO KPS with 147.5 billion won.

The scale of performance bonuses, which had been rising every year since 2017, peaked at 555 billion won in 2020, a year marked by a global economic downturn and a special low oil price effect.

Assemblyman Park criticized, "During the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, the deficits of KEPCO and its subsidiaries surged, completely ruining the company, yet they held a performance bonus feast," adding, "We need to sound an alarm to public enterprises that waste taxpayers' money recklessly while practicing lax management."

Meanwhile, KEPCO's operating loss in the first half of this year reached 14.3 trillion won, the highest ever for the same period. Experts predict that KEPCO's deficit for the entire year will reach about 30 trillion won.

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