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Jang Young-sik

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Jang Young-sik
Born1935 (age 88–89)
Gwangju
CitizenshipSouth Korea
Alma materSeoul National University
University at Albany, SUNY
OccupationEconomist
EmployerHanyang University
Known forKorea Electric Power Company president (1998–1999)
Korean name
Hangul
장영식
Hanja
Revised RomanizationJang Yeongsik
McCune–ReischauerChang Yŏngsik

Jang Young-sik (born 1935) is a South Korean economist. He was the president of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) from May 1998 to April 1999.

Personal life and early career

Jang is a native of Gwangju. His younger brother Jang Jae-sik would become a member of National Congress for New Politics and a National Assembly member in the 1990s.[1] He graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in metallurgical engineering, and afterwards worked in the Office of the Prime Minister as an economist.[2] Later in the 1950s he emigrated to the U.S. and naturalised as a citizen there.[3] He went on to the University at Albany, SUNY, where he defended a thesis on econometric modelling in 1970.[4]

Jang returned to South Korea in 1975, where he headed an energy markets research team at the Korea Development Institute. His work there focused on electricity pricing reform. In the early 1980s, he worked at the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as a member of which he did consulting work for KEPCO on the role of foreign debt in its capital structure.[1]

As KEPCO president

In May 1998, President Kim Dae-jung nominated Jang as the president of KEPCO, a move which provoked some controversy. Chang Kwang-keun (장광근) of the opposition Grand National Party expressed opposition to Jang's nomination, saying it was an example of Kim showing excessive favouritism towards his native Honam region; he stated that among the 35 applicants for the job there had been many people with better qualifications.[5] There were also questions over the legal validity of Jang's nomination. According to Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy regulations, the president of a government-owned company is required to be a South Korean citizen. Jang had earlier acquired U.S. citizenship by naturalisation, thus automatically losing South Korean citizenship. He gave up U.S. citizenship in order to have his South Korean citizenship restored on 5 May 1998, but for a period of about two weeks after the submission of application papers on 25 April he was still legally a foreigner.[6] A notice confirming his loss of U.S. citizenship appeared in the Federal Register as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in October 1998.[7]

Yang lasted slightly less than a year in the position: on 21 April 1999, KEPCO Vice-President Yun Haeng-sun reported to the Ministry of Commerce, Energy, and Energy that Jang would formally submit his resignation in a few days. Yun stated that Jang felt he lacked sufficient organisational management skills to continue in his duties.[8] There were mixed assessments of Jang's impact at KEPCO. A November 1999 report by government auditors gave him credit for management reforms which led to some improvement in operational efficiency.[9][10] However, he was also later criticised for heavy use of his corporate expense account, as his own expenditures averaged 8.58 million per month, while KEPCO as a whole had the highest expenditures on expense account reimbursements out of all state-owned companies in 1999.[11]

One plan Jang worked on while at KEPCO involved upgrading electricity production and transmission facilities in order to export power to North Korea, as part of Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy of increasing the level of inter-Korean cooperation, but in the end the plan was never implemented. In a 2005 interview, Jang stated that it had been abandoned due to technical problems.[12]

Later career

Jang was named to an endowed chair professorship at Hanyang University's Graduate School of Industrial Economics in August 1999.[13]

Selected works

  • A comparative study of interdependent and causal chain systems in econometric model-building. Doctoral dissertation. Albany: State University of New York. 1970. OCLC 753696453.

References

  1. ^ a b "프로필: 張榮植 한전 사장 내정자" [Profile: Jang Young-sik, nominee for KEPCO president]. Yonhap News. 1998-05-04. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  2. ^ 秋旺勳 [Chu Wang-hun] (1998-05-15). "韓電사장에 張榮植씨 임명" [Jang Young-sik nominated as KEPCO president]. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  3. ^ 김성용 [Kim Seong-yong] (1999-06-05). "장영식 전사장, 미국 비자 만료로 귀국" [Corporate ex-president Jang Young-sik's U.S. visa expiring, will return to country]. Yonhap News. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  4. ^ Jang 1970
  5. ^ "한나라당, 張榮植한전 사장 내정 비판" [Grand National Party criticises Jang Young-sik KEPCO nomination]. Yonhap News. 1998-05-05. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  6. ^ 秋旺勳 [Chu Wang-hun] (1998-05-15). "韓電사장 내정자 응모당시 '결격자' 논란" [Controversy whether nominee for KEPCO presidency 'not qualified' at time of application]. Yonhap News. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  7. ^ Doug Rogers, Internal Revenue Service (1998-10-22). "Quarterly Publication of Individuals, Who Have Chosen To Expatriate, as Required by Section 6039G". Federal Register. 63 (204): 56696–56698.
  8. ^ "한전 장사장 24일 오전중 사표 제출" [KEPCO president Jang will submit resignation on 24th]. Yonhap News. 1999-04-21. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  9. ^ 신삼호 [Sin Sam-ho] (1999-11-04). "한국전력 경영수지 개선됐나" [KEPCO management figures show improvement]. Yonhap News. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  10. ^ 신삼호 [Sin Sam-ho] (1999-11-04). "장영식전사장, '한전 경영개선 기여'" [Former president Jang Young-sik 'contributed to KEPCO management improvements']. Yonhap News. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  11. ^ 서영아 [Seo Young-ah] (2000-12-28). "한전 前사장 판공비 月858만원…경실련, 公기업 조사" [Former KEPCO president's expense account ₩8.58 million per month; Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice investigates public companies]. The Dong-A Ilbo. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  12. ^ "장영식 前한전사장 '99년 대북送電 계획 기술 문제로 포기'" [Former KEPCO president Jang Young-sik: 'Gave up up 1999 North Korea power transmission plan due to technical problems']. The Dong-A Ilbo. 2005-07-14. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  13. ^ "장영식 전 한전사장, 한양대 석좌교수 임명" [Former KEPCO president Jang Young-sik named to Hanyang U. endowed chair professorship]. Yonhap News. 1999-08-26. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
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