3 state firms’ CEOs face dismissal

Three are among 11 who received lowest grades in evaluation


A government’s evaluation committee has called for the dismissal of the chiefs of three public corporations and institutions over their poor performance.

Announcing the results of its assessment on Friday, the panel under the Finance Ministry also said the chiefs of local state-run corporations and institutions were better managers and ramped up more profit in 2010, compared to the previous year.

Out of the 96 chief executives subject to the latest assessment, three received the second-highest “A” grade, while 32 received the third-highest “B.” Another 50 received the “C” grade.

Ten chiefs received the lower-than-average “D” grade. They include Min Gye-hong, head of Korea Radioactive Waste Management Corp., and Shim Ho-jin, head of Korea Fisheries Infrastructure Promotion Association. The two heads were asked to be dismissed as they received the low grade for a second consecutive year.

One head was graded the lowest “E” mark. Cho Nam-beom, who is head of Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged, was also recommended to quit.

The previous year, 26 received Bs, 45 Cs and another 19 had Ds.

The institutions subject to the assessment also received higher marks in general, with a smaller number of firms receiving the D grade or lower.

The Finance Ministry conducted its annual management assessment on 100 public institutions and 96 chiefs from March to June to gauge last year’s management performances.

A total of 168 experts including professors, accountants and private company managers formed the assessment committee, the ministry said.

“In general, both the companies and their CEOs showed an improvement, especially in the areas of financial performances and labor relations,” ministry officials said.

Overall, the institutions recorded 6.1 trillion won ($5.5 billion) in net profit for last year, which reflected an increase from the 5 trillion won in 2009.

The combined amount of their outstanding debt grew to 376.3 trillion won from 332.1 trillion won, but the management assessment panel said their overall risk-management had improved.

In terms of labor relations, there were less labor disputes ― down to three from 12 ― while the rate of lost working days was reduced by over 50 percent.
Customer satisfaction also improved, rising to 92.9 points from 92 in 2009. Institutions in 2004 had scores of lower than 80.

Among the institutions, a total of seven state-run companies including Incheon International Airport Corp., Korea Airports Corp. and Korea Resources Corp. received the second-highest marks.

Altogether, 25 government and semi-private institutions received As. None of the organizations attained the highest or lowest scores.

Another 43 institutions including Korea Land and Housing Corp., Korea Gas Corp. and Korea Broadcast Advertising Corp. received Bs.

The results of the recent assessment were reported to the presidential office and the National Assembly.

By Kim Ji-hyun  (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)