Leap Ahead
KHNP CEO Lee stresses management innovation, overseas market exploration

Lee Joong-jae, president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. urged his executives and staff members to put more energy into establishing a foundation for overseas exploration by securing a competitive edge in the overseas nuclear power market.
KHNP CEO Lee stressed in his New Year's message that KHNP needs to step up solidarity with regional communities. "Now that a law governing support for the neighborhoods of nuclear power plants has been revised, institutional support regimes will be established this year to implement projects tailored to each region from a long-term perspective.
Lee also called for management innovation. He noted that management innovation is not a mandatory campaign and employees have to conduct themselves to orders and coercion from the government and company, but they no option but to voluntarily participate, on the understanding that those who are reluctant to change would be losers.
Despite such uncertainties as domestic economic slump and oil price hikes, he said, KHNP witnessed the utilization rate of its nuclear power plants surpassing 95 percent, a world record level. The year 2005 was a significant year when a low- and immediate-grade nuclear waste site was finally determined, ending the long-standing issue and new nuclear power unit projects broke ground.
President Lee said KHNP plans not only to solve such pending issues as whether to allow the operation of Kori Nuclear Power Plant Unit One, Korea's first one, beyond the design life span and push such ongoing projects as the new nuclear unit construction projects without any hitches during 2006 but also to present a range of work guidelines designed to achieve higher management goals.
First, he said, KHNP will attach priority on ensuring safety and reliability of nuclear power plants. "Not only to reduce power generation stoppages, caused by breakdowns, but also to prevent any shutdown, caused by human errors are the key to improve the public trust,"CEO Lee said.
Second, he said, KHNP will focus on consolidating a foundation as an environmentally-friendly corporation. "The fact that the corporate value of future depends on how to solve environmental problems cannot be overemphasized. Environmental regulations are tightened in the power industry in the wake of the entry of force of the Kyoto Protocol, and any corporation could not exist if it fails to perform social duties in the environment perspective and gain trust from the public,"he said.
Third, KHNP will aggressively push overseas projects. "Our technological levels have reached an internationally recognized level. To upgrade it, it is essential to successfully export the Korean standard nuclear technology abroad,"he noted. KHNP will concentrate on building a foundation for overseas exploration by securing a competitive edge in the overseas nuclear power market and establishing a human network with people in the nuclear power sector, KHNP President Lee said.
Fourth, he said KHNP management will step up solidarity with regional communities. Now that a law governing the support for the neighborhoods of nuclear power plants has been revised, institutional support regimes will be established from this year to implement projects tailored to each region in the long-term perspective. Lee said KHNP will put more energy into making suggestions designed to make communal solidarity substantial and revitalize the regional economy.
Fifth, he said KHNP will push ahead with management innovation. CEO Lee called for his executives and staff to create the world's best competitive edge through innovations, ensure management transparency and build up trust and reliability from all the interested parties, saying that any corporation which fails to cope with changes of circumstances would collapse suddenly according to the survival of the fittest. nw

Lee Joong-jae, president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co.