Ex-lawmaker Choi Gu-sik emerges as frontrunner for KOEN chief, with eye on future integrated utility

Former lawmaker Choi Gu-sik is the leading candidate to become the next president of Korea South-East Power (KOEN), sources confirmed. The appointment is drawing particular attention amid the government's push to merge five state-owned power generators, with speculation mounting that whoever takes the helm at KOEN could eventually lead the integrated utility as its inaugural chief.

According to government and power industry sources Thursday, KOEN conducted a public recruitment process for its president from June 8 to June 16, drawing 16 applicants. Choi passed the document screening and recently completed his final interview. The government plans to convene the Public Institution Management Committee as early as next month to proceed with the formal appointment. Should Choi take office, KOEN would have a politician with no energy-sector background leading the company for the second consecutive term.

Choi graduated from Jinju High School and Seoul National University with a degree in diplomacy, and served as a lawmaker in the 17th and 18th National Assemblies. In this year's June 3 local elections, he entered the Democratic Party of Korea's primary for the Jinju mayoral candidacy but was not selected as the final candidate.

"Choi was from the conservative camp, but after losing the primary in the June 3 local elections he helped the Democratic Party's final mayoral candidate," a power company official said. "Given that, the fact that he even applied is being seen in effect as a done deal."

The appointment is drawing heightened scrutiny because the government is pursuing a merger of the five state power generators — KOEN, Korea Midland Power, Korea Western Power, Korea Southern Power and Korea East-West Power. Industry insiders expect the integration to accelerate next year, timed to the expiration of the incumbent presidents' terms at those companies, after the so-called Power Generation Corporation Act clears the National Assembly this year.

For that reason, the KOEN appointment is being interpreted not as a routine succession but as a strategic move made with the launch of an integrated power utility in mind. If the merger takes place in late next year or early the year after, the newly appointed president could lead integration preparations from the outset and naturally emerge as a leading candidate for the top post of the combined entity.

The discussion over merging the five power generators originated with President Lee Jae-myung. At a Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy briefing in December last year, Lee said the split of Korea Electric Power Corp.'s generation division had simply produced "five presidents" and questioned whether the drive to cut labor costs through competition was fueling a rise in industrial accidents.

Industry observers view the current KOEN recruitment as somewhat unusual. While the government is pushing to merge the five generators, the presidents of the other four companies have terms running mostly through late September to early November next year. Since the integration is widely expected to be timed to those expiring terms, filling the KOEN post now is being read as a deliberate step taken with the launch of an integrated utility already in view.

Should the merger occur in late next year or early the year after, the incoming KOEN president would be positioned to lead integration preparations from the start of their term and could naturally surface as a candidate for the inaugural chief of the combined entity.

There is historical precedent for such a pattern. When the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corp. was formed in September 2021 through the merger of the Korea Mine Rehabilitation Agency and the Korea Resources Corp., its inaugural president was Hwang Gyu-yeon, who had been appointed head of the Korea Resources Corp. just six months before the merger.

However, the merger of the state power generators has yet to be finalized by the government, and legislation still needs to clear the National Assembly, meaning political debate and union responses remain key variables in determining the outcome.