President Lee: "Privatizing Major Infrastructure Will Ultimately Increase the Burden on the Public"

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung reiterated his opposition to privatizing railways, electricity, water, airports and ports on the 3rd, saying, "Privatizing major infrastructure will ultimately increase the burden on the public."
Lee shared on his X account, formerly Twitter, an article stating that the government had decided to reduce the number of public institutions by 109 through measures including the integration of the five power generation companies. He made the remarks in the post.
Lee said, "As promised, we are taking institutional and policy measures to prevent the privatization of railways, electricity, water, airports and ports." He also posted an image bearing the phrase "Opposition to the privatization of electricity, water, airports and railways," which he had put forward when he was a presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of Korea.
The government announced the Plan to Reform the Functions of Public Institutions on the same day. The plan calls for consolidating 109 public institutions, including merging the five power generation companies into a single corporation and combining Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) with Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS).
The five power generation companies—Namdong, Jungbu, Seobu, Nambu and Dongseo Power—will be merged under the provisional name Korea Power Generation. Korea National Oil Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation will be combined under the provisional name Energy Resources Corporation. The four port authorities—Busan Port Authority, Incheon Port Authority, Ulsan Port Authority and Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority—will also be unified under the provisional name Korea Port Authority.
Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation will not be merged immediately. The government will first pursue measures to revitalize regional airports and then reconsider whether to merge the two organizations.

[email protected] Seong Seok-woo Reporter