Photo: Prime Minister Han Seong-suk (center) announced the plan to consolidate government-owned corporations. Credit: Office of the Prime Minister.
The administration will pursue significant consolidations of government-owned corporations, most of them responsible for key infrastructure like power generation and land management.
The Public Institution Function Reform Plan 공공기관 기능개혁 추진방안, announced on September 3, will combine five power utilities into a single company, tentatively named Korea Power Co., Ltd. 한국발전, and merge the port authorities of Busan 부산, Incheon 인천, Ulsan 울산, and Yeosu/Gwangyang 여수/광양 into the Korea Port Authority 한국항만공사. The plan will also combine the Korea National Oil Corporation 한국 석유공사 and Korea Gas Corporation 한국 가스공사 to form the new Energy Resources Corporation 에너지자원공사.
In all, 109 government-owned corporations will be consolidated, and the products of those consolidations will be distributed around the country as part of efforts to alleviate the over-concentration in the Seoul 서울 metropolitan area. A significant exception is the Korea Land & Housing Corporation 한국토지주택공사, which will be split into two entities, a development arm and a housing-welfare arm, after the government concluded that combining the two functions had slowed housing supply and strained public rental management.
