Kim Dong-cheol, New KEPCO President: "You Shouldn't Bet Everything on Electricity Rates"

New President Kim Inaugurated on the 20th
"Without Painful Innovation, Public Consent Cannot Be Achieved for Electricity Rate Normalization"

"We must not become a company that relies solely on electricity rates."

On the 20th, Kim Dong-cheol, the newly appointed president of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), emphasized "change for survival" as his inaugural message. He stated that the current structure, which depends on electricity sales revenue for over 90% of total sales, cannot survive in the global unlimited competition, and urged that this dependency be reduced to below 70%.

At the inauguration ceremony held at KEPCO headquarters in Naju, President Kim said, "KEPCO is facing an unprecedented financial crisis that casts doubt on the company's survival, and the morale of about 20,000 employees is plummeting, which is truly regrettable." He added, "It is a painful truth, but perhaps KEPCO has been complacent under the protective shield of being a public enterprise, the safety net of government guarantees, and the superior position as a monopoly operator, neglecting future preparedness in the era of global unlimited competition."

He continued, "We must boldly break away from the existing structure and framework," and urged, "KEPCO must undergo a complete transformation in the face of this life-or-death crisis. We must move forward resolutely with the determination of a 'second founding of the company.'"

The core of the change Kim highlighted is diversification of the revenue structure. KEPCO recorded sales of 41.2165 trillion won in the first half of this year, of which 93.7% came from electricity sales revenue. Kim said, "We must create new sources of revenue to drastically reduce dependence on electricity rates," and added, "In the mid to long term, more than 30% of total revenue should come from areas other than domestic electricity sales, transforming KEPCO into a 'global integrated energy company' that no one can rival on the international stage."

While seeing an increase in electricity rates as inevitable to resolve the large-scale deficit, Kim emphasized that KEPCO must innovate first. He said, "In the current situation where international oil prices and exchange rates are rising sharply again, normalizing electricity rates is even more necessary," and stressed, "However, without our painful management innovation and internal reform, we will not gain public consent for the normalization of electricity rates."

Kim also announced additional measures to improve the financial structure. He stated, "We will accelerate the implementation of the existing financial structure improvement plan already announced and devise drastic additional measures," and added, "We will significantly reduce the oversized headquarters organization, establish personnel innovation based on ability and performance, and create a bold compensation system at the level of the private sector."

Kim Dong-cheol, the newly appointed President of Korea Electric Power Corporation, is delivering his inaugural speech at the KEPCO headquarters in Naju on the 20th.

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