Korea Electric Power Corporation Seoul Headquarters (Im Se-joon/Korea Herald)
The two largest state-owned enterprises, Korea Electric Power Corporation and Korea Gas Corporation, have a total debt of nearly 250 trillion won ($187.1 billion) as of the end of 2023 due to rising global energy prices. Sunday's data revealed that many people reported that
Korea Electric Power announced in a regulatory filing that its total debt last year reached 202.4 trillion won, an increase of 9.6 trillion won from the previous year.
Korea Gas's total debt was 47.4 trillion won, down from 52 trillion won in 2022, according to the company's regulatory filings.
According to industry sources, Korea Electric Power and Korea Gas paid interest on debts of 4.42 trillion won and 1.56 trillion won last year, an increase of 57% and 75% from the previous year, respectively.
Last year, the two companies' total interest payments reached 6 trillion won, an increase of 62% from the previous year, a record high.
Market participants said the debt is due to debts accumulated in 2021 and 2022, when global energy prices soared due to supply shortages triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Both companies pointed out that they paid high interest rates last year.
Korea Electric Power and Korea Gas raised electricity and gas rates last year to cope with soaring global energy prices, but they were unable to improve profitability due to high interest rates, it added. (Union)