KORAIL, the nation’s state-run rail operator, said Monday that it would hire contract-based employees and seek to outsource railway maintenance in a countermeasure against the labor union’s prolonged strike.Speaking at a news conference, KORAIL President and CEO Choi Yeon-hye said, “With the strike entering day 15, the railroad operation rate fell to 70 percent and concern over safe operation of railroads is growing. If the strike continues, the operation rate is expected to drop to the 60 perce

Industry Dec. 23, 2013

The state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corp., the nation’s nuclear power plant operator, said Thursday that it had implemented the most drastic personnel reshuffle in its 12-year history, filling five executive posts with figures from outside the company. “The top priority of the personnel reform was to break deep-rooted ‘pure-bloodism’ in the organization, a root-cause of serial scandals involving KHNP and its nuclear power plants,” CEO Cho Seok said. With the hiring of five new executives o

Industry Dec. 19, 2013

With a shift in the nation’s energy policy from supply-driven to demand management, the energy management market in Korea will be bullish within the next five years, said the head of the Korean unit of Schneider Electric.“Interest in saving energy and improving energy efficiency is growing among all types of energy consumers ― from companies to home owners ― as the power rate continues to rise,” CEO Kim Kyung-rog told The Korea Herald. Schneider Electric is a France-based energy management solut

Business Dec. 17, 2013

Seo Jang-seok, a director of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is having a different winter this year. He is preparing to move alone to Sejong City when his workplace, now in the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, relocates to the new administrative city by year-end. “I have no choice but to leave my family for the time being. My wife is working in Seoul, and my 18-year-old daughter, who is taking the university entrance exam next year, doesn’t want to change her living

Dec. 13, 2013

Commuting between Seoul and the new administrative city of Sejong is turning out to be a much more difficult task for Prime Minister Chung Hong-won than initially expected.The prime minister, who took office in February, was given an official residence in Sejong as a means of reducing the amount of time spent in long commutes.However, one cannot say that he has led a “dual life” of managing national affairs and policies both in Seoul and Sejong, as he has rarely stayed in the new city since his

Dec. 13, 2013

Home-owners in the new city of Sejong are among the few groups of real estate purchasers enjoying high returns on their investments this year.“Despite the prolonged slump in the nation’s real estate market, winter has never come to the housing market in Sejong City,” Kwon Il, the research team manager of Dr. APT, a local real estate market information provider, said by phone. According to a recent survey released on Dec. 3 by Dr. APT on price increases of newly built apartments nationwide this y

Dec. 13, 2013

Park Jin-young, an administrator at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, has been experiencing some difficulties in her love life ever since her workplace was scheduled for relocation to Sejong City by the end of this year. For the 30-year-old public servant, finding love and getting married remain important goals. But relocating to Sejong, 120 kilometers south of Seoul, has become a deal breaker in the eyes of single men she meets in the capital city.“Guys hesitate to get to know me better whe

Dec. 13, 2013

The controversial Sejong City is neither a needless extension of Seoul nor a dispersion of its administrative functions, but rather a golden opportunity to strategically create an ideal future-oriented city, according to the chief conductor of the project.Lee Choong-jae is the chairman of the Multifunctional Administrative City Construction Agency, the special organization in charge of mapping out the development of the new Sejong government complex and its surrounding area.“Sejong City, with se

Dec. 13, 2013

The world’s first project to build a large-scale power generation ship was launched on Tuesday in Seoul as three Korean industrial giants and German-based Siemens signed a memorandum of understanding at Coex InterContinental Hotel, companies said. Three Korean the companies joining the project are Korea Midland Power Co., Hyundai Heavy Industries and Polaris Shipping.The four companies formed the consortium to install an 880-megawatt power-generating facility on a floating storage regasification

Dec. 10, 2013

The state-run Korea Energy Management Corp. will step up cooperation with Peru, as it signed a memorandum of understanding with Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines on partnership for energy efficiency in Lima on Saturday, the company said. Based on the MOU, KEMCO will help Peru strengthen its energy efficiency capabilities, while helping Korean companies to develop projects in the Peruvian energy market. “KEMCO gained a foothold in South America with its partnership with Peru,” KEMCO CEO Byun Jo

Industry Dec. 8, 2013

MANILA ― The state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. is developing a project to build a 300-megawatt coal-fueled power plant with Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction, Korea’s oldest shipbuilder, in the Philippines, KEPCO officials said. “The Hanjin Group affiliate will make an equity investment in the project based on the build-operate-own contract, while it will be responsible for the plant construction,” said Hwang Kyu-byeng, president and CEO of KEPCO Philippines. Industry sources expect th

Business Dec. 3, 2013