Finance ministry recommends dismissal of public corporation heads

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details in paras 5-6, 11-12)
By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The finance ministry on Friday said it has recommended
the heads of four public corporations be fired for poor management, following a
comprehensive performance review of 92 public organizations.
The recommendation made to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae follows an
announcement by the public organization management committee that gave failing
grades to the heads of the Korea Workers Accident Medical Corp., the Korea
Consumer Agency, the Korea Film Council and the National Youth Center.
The four received less than 50 points out of a possible 100 on the evaluation scale.
The evaluation focused on managers who had led their organizations for more than
six months as of March, and was carried out by a special panel made up of 45
business experts, academics and accountants.
It also said 17 heads of such organization as Korea Coal Corp., Korea Land Corp.,
Korea Power Exchange and the Korea Foundation have been issued "warnings" for
mediocre results in running their organizations.
Warnings were issued to managers that received 50-60 points on the review scale.
These executives could be dismissed if they are unable to make improvements by
the time the next review is conducted.
The ministry, which is in charge of the country's economic policies, said the
evaluation was necessary to enhance the competitiveness of the country's public
sector and spur managers to actively improve their organizations.
South Korea first conducted evaluations of state-run companies in 1984, with only
one executive forced to leave office for unsatisfactory performance.
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said such evaluations can
help foster better business practices.
"The heads of public companies should use the evaluation as a reference and
strive to push forward measures that can improve efficiency," the policymaker
said.
The public organization committee said 24 of managers, including the heads of the
Korea Water Resources Corp., the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. and
the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, received a "good" rating of over 70
points, while 47 executives got "passing" grades of over 60 but under 70 points.
There were no head executives who received the "excellent" rating of over 80 points.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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