KEPCO's
45th Anniversary

Chairman Han calls for all-out effort to reform and innovate to survive intense competition

The Korea Electric Power Corp. celebrated its 45th anniversary July 1 in a ceremony at its auditorium attended by its officers and staff including Chairman & CEO Han Joon-ho and KEPCO's affiliates.
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Chung Sye-kyun, at a reception for the founding anniversary and the KEPCO's winning the Edison Award this year, held at the Inter-Continental Hotel in downtown Seoul, said the KEPCO winning the coveted Edison Award for two times, shows that it's a first-class international power company, recognizing its superb know-how in the power industry. Also present at the event were Reps. Kim Duk-kyu, former vice speaker of the National Assembly, Rep. Chang Young-dal of the Uri Party, Rep. Lee Yoon-sung of the opposition Grand National Party. Rep Lee, chairman of Commerce, Industry & Energy Committee of the National Assembly, also remarked that the KEPCO is where it is now as a leading power company in the world due to its highly effective management. Also, present was Kim Shin-jong, deputy minister in charge of energy & resources policy at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and Korea National Oil Corp. President-CEO Hwang doo-yul.
In his speech, the top CEO of the giant power company said he was very glad to celebrate the 49th anniversary with veer 20,000 family members and employees of the company, with the word for appreciation for those who have been toiling at the jobsites for further development of the giant utility firm in the country.
The top executive officer said since the integration of three power companies on July 1, 1961, the KEPCO has been with the economic development and its history supplying inexpensive power on a stable basis, giving each Korean people the opportunity to enjoy the benefit of the culture as a core engine of growth for the national economy that rank the 10th largest in the world.
  
But the chairman said we have been living in the world where changes come unpredictably and competition is limitless; Unless we are ready and win in the competition, we would fail to keep up with the march of time.
The same is true with the power industry. The war to secure energy resources in the world has been intensifying due to continuous rise in the prices of raw materials around the world. Since the enforcement of the Kyoto Climate Protocol, the development of next-generation technology to secure environment as well as futuristic competitive power has been stiffening. Further, the pressure for liberalization with the expansion of the free trade agreements has reached the point where demand for paradigm changes in the power industry has been growing.
In order to survive from this difficult environment and continue to achieve growth, we have to nurture our competitiveness through ceaseless changes and innovation. We have to be a step ahead of others to secure our survival, the chairman said. We have been carrying out management reform centered around the ethical management. We have been giving our best to make the company stable and invigorated organization, realizing customer appreciative management and social service activities.
Our efforts got the recognition both at home and abroad; At home, the KEPCO won the top place in the customer satisfaction for seven years in a row and the first in the government evaluation of management for two years in a row.
Moody's, the world-renowned credit rating agency, has been raising the credit rating for the KEPCO continuously in recent years and the company won the Edison Award, a Nobel Prize in the world power industry on June 20.
He said the outstanding achievement is the result of the cooperation of the labor union led by Chairman Kim Ju-young and all officers and staff of the company. He said he would thank every one of them again for their positive participation in the reform and changes.
But every thing is not good all the time. We sometimes face troubles, also. We have been severely criticized for power failures in Busan and Jeju Island not too long ago and our pride in the company, which we think is one of the best in the world has been hurt, too. We also at the same time have been able to confirm the high expectations that customers have in the supply of good-quality and stable power.
Prevention is more important than measures to cope with problems after their development. Through thorough preventive inspections, we have to prevent even a minuscule mistake. We have been promoting changes in the managerial system as demanded by the changes in management environment. Our efforts to make a clean and vivacious KEPCO should be changed into system reform and the establishment of a corporate culture without walls.
Han said the independent business department system to be enforced from the second half of this year is to restructure the power industry and to boost the effectiveness of the company's management through internal competition. nw

KEPCO's Head office in Samseong-dong, Seoul

KEPCO Chairman & CEO Han Joon-ho

MOCIE Minister Chung Sye-kyun

Chairman of Commerce, Industry, & Energy Committee of the National Assembly, Lee Yoon-sung