Kim Hoe-cheon, former Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN) president, has been tapped as the new president of Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP).
According to the nuclear power industry on the 13th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance's Public Institution Management Committee held a personnel subcommittee the previous day and selected the former president Kim as the nominee for the first KHNP chief under the Lee Jae-myung administration. KHNP is scheduled to hold a shareholders' meeting the same day to vote on the agenda to appoint the new president. After the shareholders' meeting vote, the final appointment will be made following a recommendation by the Minister of the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and approval by the president, who holds the appointing authority.
Former president Kim, who came from Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), led Korea South-East Power (KOEN) from 2021 to 2024. The nuclear industry sees Kim, a former KEPCO executive, being named as the new KHNP chief as an opportunity to reset the relationship between KEPCO and KHNP. KEPCO and KHNP are engaged in a legal dispute over the settlement of an additional construction cost of 1.4 trillion won for the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The KHNP president serves a three-year term from the date of appointment. The term may be extended in one-year increments based on management performance evaluations.
After former president Hwang Ju-ho resigned in Sep. last year, KHNP was operated under the acting leadership of Executive Vice President Jeon Dae-uk.