Why Has T-money Experienced Operating Losses Since President Kim Tae-guk's Appointment...?

Seoul Metropolitan Council Transportation Committee Chair Woo Hyung-chan Claims Sharp Decline in Sales and Operating Profit Since CEO Kim Tae-guk's Appointment; 53.9 Billion KRW Sales Decrease and 40.4 Billion KRW Operating Profit Drop Over 3 Years... Orders Departure Upon Term Expiration on April 11

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Woo Hyung-chan, Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party, Yangcheon 3), pointed out that T-money has been recording serious operating losses since the inauguration of President Kim Tae-geuk, and argued that President Kim Tae-geuk should leave the company upon the expiration of his term on April 11 as a responsibility for this.

President Kim Tae-geuk was inaugurated as the CEO of T-money (formerly Korea Smart Card) on April 13, 2018. Looking at T-money's annual sales performance, sales were 257.8 billion KRW in 2017, but after Kim Tae-geuk took office in 2018, sales dropped sharply by 53.9 billion KRW over the past three years, from 257 billion KRW in 2018 to 203.9 billion KRW in 2020.

Also, in 2017, T-money recorded an operating profit of 15.5 billion KRW, but after Kim Tae-geuk took office in 2018, operating profit sharply decreased to 6.3 billion KRW. In 2020, operating profit was 2.49 billion KRW, showing a disastrous performance with a decrease of 32.3 billion KRW compared to the previous year and 40.4 billion KRW compared to just before his inauguration.

Transportation Committee Chairman Woo Hyung-chan predicted that it is time for President Kim Tae-geuk, who has been managing T-money for three years, to make a big decision ahead of the expiration of his term in April so that he no longer becomes an obstacle to the development of T-money.

Reviewing the performance of T-money over the past three years, it was revealed that President Kim Tae-geuk's management ability has already reached its limit, having turned a company that had operating profits into a deficit state where normal operation is no longer possible.

As the largest shareholder of T-money, the Seoul Metropolitan Government argued that it should find a suitable person through close cooperation with shareholders to prevent further deterioration of T-money's financial performance.

According to the agreement between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and LG CNS obtained, LG CNS agreed in 2017 not to recommend any CEO candidates succeeding President Kim Tae-geuk.

Accordingly, Transportation Committee Chairman Woo Hyung-chan emphasized that the Seoul Metropolitan Government should enable the appointment of the optimal person who can normalize T-money's business performance as CEO as soon as possible.

Additionally, Chairman Woo stated that since T-money is a stock company under the Commercial Act, Seoul Metropolitan Council and the Transportation Committee will actively cooperate to ensure that an executive who can overcome the company's crisis and management difficulties without being swayed by sentiment is promptly elected.