Korail President Choi Yeon-hye delivers her inauguration speech in a ceremony

 held  at Daejon Railroad Twin Tower in Daejon on Oct. 2.(photos courtesy of Korail)

President Choi Yeon-hye of the Korea Railroad Corp., in her inauguration speech during a ceremony held at Daejon Railroad Twin Tower on Oct. 2, said the railroad has made a great contribution to the resurgence of the Korean economy and improving the lives of the people in the past, but it is in a financial crisis. Choi, the first woman to hold the position of president, said she will make Korail a transportation company that gives hope to the people with the collective cooperation of the entire 35,000 staff and officers working for Korail now.

The new CEO said her most urgent goals are to turn Korail’s finances to the black by improving its management system to one that is sustainable, to introduce safety-first management to improve operational safety, to engage in creative management to contribute to the happiness of the people, and to renew Korail management’s cooperation efforts for mutual survival with cooperative firms to create a new corporate culture, to name just a few of the key management directions under Choi’s new regime.

In order to make Korail’s operation profitable, the operation schedule should be revised to be the most proper one under the current situation and build a sustainable management system whereby each unit head will be held responsible for the most effective operation of the unit to the extent that Korail’s accounting structure might be reformed. The new CEO also intends to boost Korail’s management to be most effective in a daring manner, strengthen competitiveness of its affiliated firms, develop the railroad station areas, and spur tourism in a move to find new growth engines for the railroad company so that its management would turn profitable by 2015.

She stressed that the safe operation of the railroad would be the topmost service that the railroad business can render to its customers, a value that cannot be exchanged for anything.

President Choi said Korail has the potential, as far as creative management is concerned, to give happiness to the people, through the development of the rail station areas around the country in order to improve the residential culture, support job creation, and boost “happiness housing” construction as part of Korail’s contribution to the government’s main policy objectives of creating jobs and spurring regional economies. Korail can use its infrastructure fully to achieve creative management so that it would be a transportation system loved by people all around the country, Choi added.

“The situation that Korail is currently in now is the best time for changing its corporate culture in order to contribute more to the happiness of the people with creative management,” she said, calling for everyone’s participation to overcome the crisis through the new corporate culture that will take them to a brighter future.

Korail President Choi Yeon-hye delivers her inauguration speech in a ceremony

 held  at Daejon Railroad Twin Tower in Daejon on Oct. 2.(photos courtesy of Korail)

The new Korail CEO said that the master of the railroad industry is the people and she will ask the government for help, as Korail would like to do more to make the people comfortable and for the development of the nation.

“Korail now can either go forward for a brighter future or regress for tens of years, because now the railroad operator is at a critical juncture of its life. Now is the time for every officer and staff member of the railroad company to unite with all of their passion and confidence to make Korail a top-class railroad company in the world,” Choi said.

Choi is a graduate of Seoul National University with a BA in German literature and received a doctorate in management from Mannheim University Graduate School in Mannheim, Germany. She worked as vice president of Korea Railroad Corp. from 2005-2007 and as chancellor of the Korea Railroad College from 2007-2011. She was also chairman of the World Railroad College Council from 2009-2011.