Jeong Seung-il, KEPCO President, Resigns... Transition to Emergency Response Committee System

Jung Seung-il, President of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), will officially step down from his position on the 19th. From this day, KEPCO will transition to an emergency response committee system led by Lee Jung-bok, Executive Vice President of Management, acting as the president.

KEPCO announced that it will hold President Jung's farewell ceremony at 11 a.m. at its headquarters in Naju, Jeollanam-do.

Earlier, on the 12th, President Jung revealed plans to improve the financial structure during the 'Emergency Management and Management Innovation Commitment Rally,' stating, "I deeply apologize to the public for the burden caused by electricity rates," and added, "I intend to step down from the position of President of Korea Electric Power Corporation."

In the energy industry, Jung's resignation is seen as a predictable step. Last year, KEPCO recorded a historic operating loss of 32.5 trillion won, followed by a 6.2 trillion won loss in the first quarter of this year, leading to pressure from the government and ruling party for his resignation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

With President Jung's resignation, Executive Vice President Lee will take over until the next president is appointed. Lee graduated from Gyeonggi High School and the Department of Sociology at Sungkyunkwan University, and has served as KEPCO’s Head of Human Resources and Head of the Win-Win Management Division. He was promoted to his current position in February.

KEPCO will enter an emergency response committee system starting with Lee’s acting presidency. To implement the previously announced high-intensity financial restructuring, KEPCO plans to execute self-help measures worth 25 trillion won. Specifically, it will sell the Nam Seoul Headquarters located in Yeouido, a key asset in the metropolitan area, and consolidate some of the 234 regional business offices to improve workforce efficiency.

Additionally, KEPCO employees at grade 3 and above, and employees at grade 2 and above in the power group companies, will return all salary increases, and the performance bonuses to be decided next month will also be returned in full or at least 50% depending on the grade. The scale of financial restructuring is 5.6 trillion won larger than the comprehensive financial soundness plan for the power group (20.1 trillion won) established last year when the emergency management system was initiated.

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