Korail "The Key to Success in Overseas Business is People"

The key to the success of Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL)'s overseas projects lies in ‘talent.’ The reason why KORAIL is focusing on nurturing talent as the first step to transplant its accumulated experience and capabilities in the railway sector overseas is no different. The strategic approach is based on the idea that when domestically trained talent becomes the seed that spreads to overseas railway projects, the fruits of these projects can also be realized through them.

Han Moon-hee, President of Korail, is speaking at the UIC meeting held in Malaysia last October. Korail serves as the chair organization of the UIC Asia-Pacific region and as an executive board member, participating in key decision-making. Provided by Korail

◆ Sincere Commitment to Training Professionals = Starting next month, KORAIL will open and operate the Integrated International Railway Professional Course (KORAIL-International Railway Professional, hereinafter K-IRP).

K-IRP aims to train professionals equipped with essential job competencies and language skills necessary for international exchange and overseas project execution. It is characterized by integrating existing job-related training such as the International Railway Expert Course for strengthening overseas project capabilities into a single curriculum linked with foreign language education. KORAIL plans to train a total of 300 internal experts in the overseas project field by 2026 through this course.

K-IRP is structured around the ‘Understanding International Railway Environment Course,’ which educates on KORAIL’s overseas project status and regional characteristics; the ‘Overseas Project Training Course,’ which teaches practical overseas project tasks such as international contract risks; and ‘Advanced Training by Job Series’ to enhance job expertise.

Business foreign language education to strengthen language skills is also included in the K-IRP curriculum. The business foreign language course combines mandatory e-learning and practical foreign language learning, aiming to cultivate talent with the foreign language skills necessary to perform tasks at project sites.

Graduates of the K-IRP course are given ongoing opportunities to participate in job training programs and foreign language education even after completing the course. This post-management is intended to ensure that the educational effects do not end as a one-time event but continue until actual deployment in the field.

KORAIL is expanding its internal expert talent pool in the overseas project field by involving employees who have reached the wage peak system in the K-IRP course. It also plans to provide opportunities for these personnel to spread across the overseas project field and demonstrate their capabilities.

◆ Transplanting K-Rail Operational Know-how Overseas = KORAIL has accumulated operational know-how by performing overall railway operations and facility maintenance tasks, including KTX. This year marks the 20th anniversary of operating the high-speed train KTX, which was the first introduced domestically and the fifth worldwide.

Based on the experience and capabilities accumulated so far, KORAIL now pursues a strategy focused on spreading K-Rail operational know-how overseas.

When KORAIL started overseas projects in 2007, it pioneered and expanded its business based on its own overseas project standard model: ‘exchange and training → construction consulting → operating and maintenance (O&M) consulting → direct O&M implementation.’

The reason why talent development is the key to overseas project success is that the foundation of the four-stage standard model is human exchange and training. In line with this, KORAIL established the International Railway Training Center (IRaTCA) in 2007 with approval from the International Union of Railways (UIC), operating training programs that share K-Rail technology and operational experience with member countries. So far, 1,711 trainees from 56 countries have participated, and more than five international railway training projects will be conducted this year.

The training program forms a close network between the training countries and trainees as part of the ‘Railway Korean Wave,’ serving as a kind of bridge and exchange cooperation platform during KORAIL’s overseas expansion.

Next month, KORAIL will host the ‘UIC Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly and High-Speed Rail Committee Regular Meeting’ in Seoul, where it will also take time to spread K-Rail operational technology and advanced techniques while expanding exchanges.

UIC is an international railway organization established in 1922 to develop international railway standards, regulations, and guidelines and to promote interoperability. Currently, 216 railway-related institutions from 83 countries are registered as members of UIC. KORAIL currently serves as the chair institution of the UIC Asia-Pacific region and as an executive board institution, participating in major decision-making.

◆ Stepping Stone to Continental Railway Entry = KORAIL is also participating in the Organization for Cooperation of Railways (OSJD) to lay the foundation for entering continental railways. OSJD is an international organization that discusses cooperation among Eurasian continental countries and establishes transport agreements. Korea became a full member of OSJD in 2018, and KORAIL solidified its position by hosting the ‘34th CEO Meeting’ in Seoul the following year.

In particular, the Korean government and KORAIL plan to implement the OSJD multimodal transport agreement and resolve delays in transporting export cargo of Korean companies to Central Asia by conducting a ‘Pilot Project for International Freight Multimodal Transport’ in June this year. The project route covers 7,000 km, connecting Obong Station, an inland freight terminal, with Busan Port, Lianyungang Port in China, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. The cargo includes automobile parts, with a transport volume of 55 containers (1,650 tons).

Through this project, KORAIL aims to secure a stable transport route for export cargo heading to Central Asia and Europe in the future.

Kim Won-eung, head of KORAIL’s Overseas South-North Railway Project Team, said, “KORAIL will actively engage in international cooperation organizations such as UIC and OSJD to support government policies and devote itself to nurturing internal experts for international exchange and overseas project execution. We will strive to continuously expand human exchanges to promote K-Rail’s excellent technology worldwide and accelerate overseas project expansion based on this.”

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