[Exclusive] Yoon's Energy Policy Architect Appointed Outside Director of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power; Another Appointed Person Is Motel CEO, Raising 'Doubts About Expertise'

Professor Park Jooheon Appointed Outside Director of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power... Term Starts on the 1st of Next Month
Specialist of Economic Division 2 at Transition Committee... Designed 'Electricity Cost-Based Pricing' and More
Another Figure is Ko Jaeguk, Managing Director of Daegyeong Ilbo... Also Operates a Motel in Pohang
Questions Arise Inside and Outside KHNP... Criticism That It's Difficult to Find Connection to the Power Industry

Professor Park Joo-heon delivering the keynote speech at the Carbon Neutrality Seminar
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Photo by Hwang Kwang-mo = Professor Park Joo-heon of Dongduk Women's University is delivering the keynote speech on carbon neutrality and rational electricity pricing at the 2nd Energy Transition and Carbon Neutrality Policy Seminar held on the morning of June 29 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry International Conference Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul.
At the seminar, panelists presented and discussed alternatives on "Rational Power Market Reform and Energy Policy Directions for Carbon Neutrality." June 29, 2022
hkmpooh@yna.co.kr
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporters Kim Hyewon and Lee Junhyung] Park Jooheon, professor of economics at Dongduk Women’s University and former president of the Korea Energy Economics Institute, who designed the framework of energy policy centered on the abolition of nuclear phase-out under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, has been confirmed as the new outside director of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). KHNP is currently in the process of replacing six outside directors whose terms have ended or are about to expire, and a new board of outside directors is expected to be formed with Park as the focal point. In this case, it is widely anticipated that the dry storage facility project within the Gori Nuclear Power Plant, which was twice postponed from being put on the board agenda, will proceed with greater momentum.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and KHNP on the 28th, Professor Park will begin his term as an outside director of KHNP starting November 1. Speaking by phone while on a business trip in the United States, he confirmed, "It is true that I have been appointed as an outside director of KHNP," adding, "Whether I will serve as the chairperson of the board is something to discuss after I return."

Professor Park joined the Economic Subcommittee 2 of the Presidential Transition Committee in March and played a key role in shaping the Yoon administration’s overarching energy policy. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is following the core principles he proposed at the transition committee, such as cost-based electricity pricing and a nuclear-centered energy mix. Having served as president of the Korea Energy Economics Institute from 2015 to 2018, Park was also a member of the Professors’ Council for Rational Energy Policy (Egyopyeop), which led criticism against the Moon Jae-in administration’s energy policies. Egyopyeop is a professors’ group established in 2018 in opposition to the previous government’s nuclear phase-out policy.

Another new outside director appointed as of November 1 is identified as Ko Jaeguk, CEO of Hotel Yaja Pohang Passenger Terminal branch and executive director of Daegyeong Ilbo. Hotel Yaja is a motel franchise operated by the accommodation app Yanolja.

Questions have been raised both inside and outside KHNP as well as in political circles regarding the background of Ko’s appointment. Only his record as chairman of the Digital Party Committee of the Pohang Buk Party Members’ Association of the Liberty Korea Party in 2017 is known, and it is difficult to find relevance to the selection criteria for KHNP’s non-standing directors, such as ‘experience in the power industry’ or ‘understanding of the power industry’s uniqueness, importance, and government policies.’

The KHNP board consists of six standing directors and seven non-standing directors. Since the Yoon administration took office, all but one outside director with about one year left in their term are in the process of being replaced. Most of the standing directors are also expected to be replaced by the end of the year, meaning the board itself will undergo a major overhaul.

The replacement of KHNP board members is expected to have a significant impact on future management decisions. The first major agenda item likely to be addressed by the newly formed board is the ‘Basic Plan for Construction of Dry Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel at Gori’ which was twice postponed due to opposition from previous outside directors and local communities. If the agenda is put to a vote at the board meeting scheduled for early December and the newly appointed outside directors vote in favor, the proposal will be approved.

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