Public enterprises' debt

Shocking is the word that describes a report by government auditors on major state-owned companies released Wednesday. During five years under the former Lee Myung-bak administration, the

combine

d debt of nine public enterprises more than doubled, from 128 trillion won ($113 billion) to 284 billion won.

The biggest reason was the “ostrich” fiscal operation of the previous government. While pushing ahead with massive public works, including the

controversial

four-river refurbishment project, it passed the burden from snowballing budget

deficit

s to state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

That was a most glaring example of irresponsible fiscal management, which does not stop at aggravating the bottom lines of these state firms but puts strict restraints on the succeeding government’s economic operation and eventually leads to heavier burdens on taxpayers. Major, if not the only, beneficiaries were large construction firms and officials who received kickbacks from them.

This collusive absorption of taxpayer money is not an issue that can be resolved with just an audit report but requires parliamentary investigations.

This year, the aggregate debt of SOEs is estimated to top $500 billion, nearly half the nation’s GDP. It is a small surprise then that Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s are hesitating to raise the credit rating of Korea’s SOEs.

This, coupled with the artificial curbing on the basic service charges for electricity and city gas, has resulted in a serious ethical laxity of officials working for public enterprises. For example, the average pay of Korea Electric Power Corp. hovers above such global corporate names as Samsung and Hyundai, while the state utility suffers from near perennial operational losses, which KEPCO officials attribute to below-cost supply of electricity mainly to large consumers meaning industries.

On the other hand, household consumers enjoy no price discounts but are applied with steep progressive rates when their energy consumption exceeds the KEPCO-set threshold. Families are also the first ones forced to cut

consumption

during summer and winter peak seasons to prevent blackouts, a combined result of the government’s policy mistakes as well as corruption and poor management of power companies. In short, these governmental and semi-governmental officials are giving a peck to the public and getting a bushel from them.

The time is long past for Korea to overhaul its state enterprise system by subjecting their projects to far tighter feasibility studies and their fiscal management to

strict

monitoring by government-civilian joint bodies. For instance, KEPCO should be able to raise electricity charges - only in exchange for thorough self-reform by cutting pay, selling assets and eliminating corruption.

A country where state-owned companies are called “godly workplaces,” such as Korea, can hardly be considered normal. It’s not that state enterprises have no competitors just because they provide public services. They must find competitors not at home but abroad - state-owned enterprise in major foreign countries.

This is The Korea Times editorial for Friday, June 14, 2013.

※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 사설에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제 입니다.

※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part.

1. The two copper mining companies will be

merged

. (쌍용, 명지대 편입 유형)

① combined

② emerged

③ operated

④ bankrupted

2. Mr. President said a freedom agenda would give individuals more power and government less, and promised as he pushed controversial ideas like

revamping

Social Security to reach across party lines.

① renovating

② renouncing

③ restraining

④ reproaching

3. The

now seems to stand as the primary barrier to a new era of strong economic growth. (한국무역협회 응용, 연세대 대학원 유형)

① defect

② red ink

③ demagogues

④ discord

4. In the most

comprehensive

and detailed study of its kind, researchers have figured out exactly how much weight gain is associated with the consumption of certain foods.

① broad

② understandable

③ deep

④ complicated

5. Strict sanitary procedures help to

forestall

outbreaks of disease.

① prevent

② control

③ minimize

④ preview

[해설 및 정답]

1. [번역] 두 개의 구리광산회사가

합병 될

것이다.

[정답] ①

2. [번역] 대통령은 당의 노선을 뛰어 넘어가기 위해 사회 보장을

혁신(쇄신)하는

것과 같이 논의의 여지가 있는 아이디어들을 밀고 나아가면서 자유 의제(議題)는 개인들에게 더 많은 힘을 그리고 정부에는 더 적은 권력을 주리라고 말하였으며 (그러리라) 약속했다.

3. [번역] 그

적자

는 현재 강력한 경제성장의 새로운 시대로의 주된 장애가 되고 있는 것 같다.

[정답] ③

4. [번역] 그러한 종류의 가장

포괄적이

며 자세한 연구에서, 연구원들은 체중의 증가가 정확히 어느 정도로 특정한 음식의 섭취와 관련이 있는지를 계산해 냈다.

5. [번역] 엄격한 위생 절차가 질병의 발생을

미리 막아주는데

도움이 된다.

[어휘] ② 통제하다 ③ 최소화하다 ④ 시사, 시연을 하다