By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The CEOs of four state-run organizations face dismissal for sub-standard job performances after a review by a panel under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
The panel recommended the sacking of the heads of the Korea Film Council, K-Medi Hospital for Industrial Accidents, the Korea Consumer Agency and the Youth Center of Korea to President Lee Myung-bak, Friday.
They all received scores below 50 out of 100.
The recommendation was made after the 45-member team looked into the performance of 92 state-financed entities over the past few months.
It is the second time since 1984 for CEOs of state-funded agencies to face dismissal for performing poorly.
In 2001, the president of the Korea Resources Corp. was asked to resign.
Additionally, leaders of 17 public enterprises and quasi-government agencies, including the Korea National Housing Corp. and Korea Land Corp. will receive a warning after they scored between 50 and 60. If they get an additional warning, they too will be forced to quit.
No single head of the public agencies received over 90, with only 24 obtaining scores between 80 and 90.
The committee looked at 100 state companies and quasi-government bodies to review their efficiency. No entity received the highest class ``S,'' while the Korea Electric Power Corp., Korea Water Resources Corp. and 16 other firms were given an ``A.''
The Korea Land Corp., Korea Tourism Organization and 36 other institutions were given a ``B,'' with Korea National Housing Corp., Incheon International Airport Corp. and 25 companies receiving a ``C.'' Korea Film Council was rated the most inefficient public entity with an ``E.''
``This should serve as a good occasion to improve how public firms and other state-financed organizations are managed. Heads of state institutions should exercise strong leadership and make their entities more profit-oriented and efficient,'' Strategy and Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said.
Since last August, the Lee Myung-bak administration announced a series of schemes to either privatize or overhaul 305 state enterprises and their 330 subsidiaries. It also plans to slash up to 35,000 jobs, or 13.5 percent of the total payroll by the end of 2012.
This is a major U-turn from the Roh Moo-hyun administration, which tolerated manpower expansion and over spending.
The Lee administration also introduced a performance-based bonus system.
President Lee criticized state-run companies for inefficiency, pointing out that they were operating without proper supervision and that their organizations have become bloated. State enterprises have also been hit for increasing the number of employees without seeking to maximize profits and efficiency.