SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) — Eighteen out of 130 South Korean public companies and state-run agencies earned low grades in the government’s annual management assessment for 2021, the finance ministry said Monday.
A total of three companies earned Grade E, the lowest level in the government’s six-tier evaluation system, meaning they were “very insufficient” in making efforts to improve their overall management, and 15 firms were on the level D, or “insufficient,” according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The three lowest-ranking companies were Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), the Korea Postal Logistics Agency and the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority, and the Grade D firms include the Korea Land and Housing Corp.
The Korea East-West Power Co. was the only company that was placed at the top notch of Grade S for last year, and 22 public firms, or 17.7 percent, earned the Grade A status. The numbers of Grade B and C companies stood at 48 and 40, respectively, the ministry said.
The government took into account such factors as financial soundness, environment, social unity and other factors to assess the 130 public firms and quasi-government institutions, the ministry said.
The government conducts the management evaluation test on an annual basis to check public firms’ financial status, as well as their implementation of major policy requirements.
The appraisal committee under the ministry proposed punitive measures for companies showing poor performances, such as a dismissal of a company chief and the voluntary return of bonuses by senior officials, according to the ministry.
Source: Yonhap News Agency