"KEPCO's '30 Trillion Deficit' Also Sees Increase in Million-Won Salary Earners... 3,600 People at Record High"

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Last year, the number of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) employees earning over 100 million won annually approached 3,600, setting a record high for the second consecutive year. Despite a massive operating loss of 30 trillion won last year that severely deteriorated financial soundness, one out of every 6.5 KEPCO employees earned over 100 million won.

According to data obtained on the 14th through the office of Lee Joo-hwan, a member of the People Power Party, the total number of KEPCO employees earning over 100 million won last year was 3,589, a 9.1% increase compared to the previous year. Among KEPCO’s total workforce of 23,563 employees, 15.2% are high earners. This figure increased by 301 people and 1.1 percentage points from 2021 (3,288 employees, 14.1%).

The number of KEPCO employees earning over 100 million won has steadily increased over the past five years. The number of employees earning more than 100 million won was only 1,752 (7.8%) in 2018, rising to 2,395 (10.4%) in 2019, 2,972 (12.7%) in 2020, and surpassing 3,000 for the first time in 2021. Even during periods when net losses (separate basis) were recorded at 1.0952 trillion won in 2018 and 2.595 trillion won in 2019, the number of high earners increased by about 10-13%.

Last year, the average annual salary per KEPCO employee was 84.53 million won, slightly down from 84.96 million won the previous year, while the salary for executives remained at a similar level of 1.6104 trillion won. During the same period, housing loan amounts decreased by about 1.1 billion won to 49.7 billion won, and the number of supported employees decreased by 6 to 570.

The financial industry estimates that KEPCO’s consolidated sales last year reached 70.9093 trillion won, with an operating loss of 30.8907 trillion won. During the same period, liabilities are expected to reach 178.7477 trillion won, and the debt ratio is projected to nearly double from 223.2% the previous year to 417.2%.

Last year, KEPCO issued a total of 31.8 trillion won in corporate bonds at an average interest rate of 4.19%, a 170.1% increase compared to 11.77 trillion won in 2021. In January this year, it issued 3.21 trillion won, and as of the 8th of this month, it issued another 1.03 trillion won in corporate bonds. This year alone, KEPCO has already issued corporate bonds worth 4.24 trillion won, which have been used for management funds such as electricity purchases and labor costs.