[Interview] Kwon Wantak, Director of Seoul Water Reuse Facility Corporation: "We Will Emerge as a Leading Water Reuse Center Recognized for Specialization"

After completing his term as Director of the Seoul Water Circulation Safety Bureau, Director Kwon Wan-taek inaugurated as the 2nd Chairman of the Seoul Water Reuse Facilities Corporation, announcing preparations for a 'Quantum Jump' to serve as a hub for water industry development as a culmination of water technology.

“I feel a heavy responsibility to ‘protect the pleasant water environment for Seoul citizens and contribute to improving their quality of life,’ and I intend to faithfully fulfill my role as the chairman of the corporation to ensure stable facility operation and sustainable management innovation.”

This is the determination expressed by Kwon Wan-taek, Chairman of the Seoul Water Reuse Facilities Corporation (photo), in an interview. Having completed his role as Director of the Water Circulation Safety Bureau of Seoul and newly appointed as the second chairman of the corporation, Chairman Kwon’s resolve appears exceptional.

The Seoul Water Reuse Facilities Corporation is an environmental specialized organization entering its third year since establishment, operating the Second Phase Water Reuse Centers?Seonam Water Reuse Center and Tancheon Water Reuse Center?that treat sewage south of the Han River in Seoul.

Formerly known as sewage treatment facilities, the water reuse centers have transformed into urban environmental spaces that provide waterfront areas and urban water resources while offering healing spaces accessible to local residents at any time. They also generate various energies during the sewage treatment process.

Additionally, as a concentration of water technology, they serve as a hub for the development of the water industry. Chairman Kwon said, “While we focused on system organization and stabilizing the organization as a newly established entity in the early days, it is now time to prepare for a ‘quantum jump’ to take a step further.”

When asked about the key operational plans as chairman, he expressed his intention to strengthen efforts to become an excellent public enterprise.

“Recently, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the management evaluation results of local public enterprises. As a newly established institution launched in 2021, the corporation’s system organization as a local public enterprise and securing achievements in related fields to meet management evaluation criteria were insufficient, resulting in poor evaluation scores,” he explained. However, despite being a latecomer facing difficulties, he pledged to activate motivation among members through a clear reward system for excellent performance, establish a specialized operating system, and achieve rapid advancement into an excellent public enterprise through management innovation.

Furthermore, the Seoul Water Reuse Facilities Corporation has experienced labor disputes for the first time among environmental corporations since its inception. Chairman Kwon stated that they will foster trust and cooperation between labor and management, communicate openly and thoughtfully about various difficult issues that became points of contention in collective agreements, and successfully conclude the labor-management collective agreement within this month to create an atmosphere of labor-management harmony. He also said, “Even after the comprehensive settlement of collective bargaining, we will continue broad information sharing about corporation management and cooperation on daily issues to advance labor-management relations beyond administrative stability toward a labor-management partnership that creates social value.”

The corporation, with most employees being technical experts, operates systems that discover and utilize facility management know-how and creative ideas to maximize strengths, analyze weaknesses, pursue efficient facility operation, and transform into a specialized and recognized leading water reuse center.

Alongside this, efforts will be made to engage with local residents. Chairman Kwon acknowledged, “Due to the location of the water reuse centers, local residents have a sense of grievance,” and promised, “We will actively communicate with residents and seriously consider what contributions can be made to the local community by utilizing the upper parts of the water reuse centers and what content the corporation can provide.”

Finally, Chairman Kwon expressed his determination to actively contemplate and cooperate in solving challenges faced by the corporation by supporting water reuse-related projects internally and externally, nurturing talent, expanding the industrial base, and promoting active technological development.

As the representative operator of Seoul’s water reuse centers, he also pledged to align with Seoul’s water reuse policies, including creating a leading hub for waterfront cultural vitality, expanding water treatment facilities at the water reuse centers, improving river environments, reducing sewage odors, minimizing sewage sludge, and energy conversion. He asked for interest and support in watching the progress of the Seoul Water Reuse Facilities Corporation leading water reuse.

Chairman Kwon Wan-taek (58) graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Seoul and began his career as a Grade 7 public official of Seoul City. He is a veteran technical official with 34 years of service, having held positions such as Director of Road Planning, Technical Review Officer, Director of Facilities at the Urban Infrastructure Headquarters, and Director of the Water Circulation Safety Bureau. He is also a highly scholarly expert who earned a Ph.D. in Urban Transportation Engineering from his alma mater.

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