The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said on the 12th it will convene an interagency meeting in Feb. on how to resolve the Korea Coal Corporation (KOCOAL)'s accumulated liability of 2.5 trillion won and finalize a plan based on the discussions.
Seok Geun-u, Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination at the coal corporation, said at the 4th business briefing held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the day, "Government support is insufficient compared with financing costs (interest), putting us in a structure where accumulated liability keeps rising," and added, "Additional government support is needed to resolve the liability issue."
According to the government, the coal corporation's daily interest expense is estimated to reach 240 million won. The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) had initially planned to finalize a plan to handle the coal corporation's liability by the end of last year, but it has not yet presented a draft to the Ministry of Planning and Budget.
Vice Minister Moon Shin-hak of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said, "The coal corporation and workers in the coal industry played a major role in our industrialization process, and the government bears responsibility for that," and added, "The liability issue must be resolved without fail, with relevant parties such as Kangwon Land sharing responsibility under the beneficiary-pays principle, not only the government."
Kim Jeong-gi, head of the coal industry division at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), said, "We have prepared a draft plan to resolve the coal corporation's liability to some extent," and added, "We will convene an interagency meeting in Feb. and, based on that, finalize the plan through bodies such as the Public Institution Management Committee (Public Institutions Committee)."
Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) said, "We should approach the coal corporation issue not merely as an organizational cleanup but by comprehensively considering respect for workers who contributed to industrialization and community issues," and added, "The Ministry of Trade and Industry and related agencies will pool their strength to sort this out smoothly."