Unpaid Gas Bills... CEO Lee Han-cheol Provides Real Estate as Collateral
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] Lee Han-cheol, CEO of Taewon Passenger and Yujin Transportation, city bus companies in Mokpo, announced a public apology to citizens at 11 a.m. on the 13th at the Mokpo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stating, "We will resume normal city bus operations from the 14th."
On that day, CEO Lee bowed his head and said, "We sincerely apologize for causing inconvenience to passengers by suspending public transportation operations."
CEO Lee Han-cheol is issuing an apology statement at the Mokpo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. [Photo by Reader Provided]
He explained, "Last year, wage negotiations between labor and management were not smoothly resolved, resulting in a strike and suspension of operations. Additionally, due to difficult economic conditions both domestically and internationally, natural gas prices soared to unprecedented levels, leading to unpaid gas bills and the suspension of city gas supply, which forced us to halt city bus operations."
He added, "From now on, we will do our utmost to prevent any recurrence of city bus operation suspensions in Mokpo. Starting from the 14th, we will resume normal city bus operations to not only resolve the transportation inconveniences caused but also to wholeheartedly serve as the citizens' means of transportation."
He also pledged, "All employees will do their best to bring Mokpo city buses closer to the citizens and provide convenient transportation services to passengers."
Mokpo city buses had suspended operations due to a general strike by the union on October 18 last year but resumed operations on November 16 after a settlement was reached in 28 days.
However, less than a month after resuming normal operations, services were again completely suspended from December 12 last year due to the company's unpaid gas bills.
With CEO Lee Han-cheol's apology and announcement of normal operations this time, Mokpo city buses are expected to resume service after 65 days.
It is known that real estate owned by CEO Lee Han-cheol was provided as collateral to resolve the unpaid gas bills amounting to over 2.6 billion won.
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