Vice Minister Woo Tae-hee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), speaks at the 24th Gas Safety Grand Awards ceremony at the 63 City Building on July 7. Dignitaries, including MOTIE Vice Minister Woo, KGS President Park Gi-dong, gas-related organization and business representatives, and awards winners, pose for a group photos session at the awards ceremony. (Photos: KGS)

Korea Gas Safety Corp. (KGS) held the 24th Gas Safety Grand Awards Ceremony at the Convention Center of 63 City Building in Yeouido, Seoul, on July 7. Among about 500 people on hand at the occasion were Vice Minister Woo Tae-hee of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), KGS President Park Gi-dong, and gas-related organization and business representatives. 

Thirty-seven government awards, including two orders, were presented during the awards ceremony. The Order of Industrial Service Merit, Silver Tower went to Yesco Chairman Koo Ja-cheol, while President Ahn Jae-geol of Hansin Gas was honored with the Order of Industrial Service Merit, Steel Tower.  OJC President Song Sung-keun and Senior Executive Vice President Choi Sung-hwan of Kiturami each were presented with the Industrial Service Medal. 

Four people, including Kwon Ki-joon, a division chief of Korea Gas Safety Corp., won the presidential award, while four others, including Lee Sang-ok, general manager of Korea Gas Corp., were presented with the prime minister’s award. 

While delivering a commemorative speech, MOTIE Vice Minister Woo said the new government will strive to realize an “Era of Clean Energies,” while attaching top priority to ensuring public safety, reflecting the values and the spirit of the times toward clean and safe energies. The government plans to establish a roadmap to reduce the portion of coal-fired power generation by halting the operation of thermal power plants and decommissioning old coal-fired power units. It also plans to reduce dependence on nuclear power generation. 

The central government plans to implement energy policies to raise the percentage of new and renewable power generation to 20 percent by 2030, the vice minister said. 

Vice Minister Woo extended words of encourage and appreciation to those in the gas industry for its development, and for reducing human casualties caused by gas accidents. Figures released by the MOTIE showed that human casualties caused by gas accidents have dramatically plunged for the past five years: nose-diving from 179 people in 2012 to 150 people in 2015 and 118 people in 2016. 

The government plans to promote the development of the gas industry through the modernization of gas facilities and supporting the development of gas safety technologies, while expanding energy welfare to the underprivileged, he said. The Gas Safety Grand Awards Ceremony, which debuted in 1994, is an annual event designed to promote the development of the gas industry.

In this regard, the MOTIE and KGS designated the period between July 3 and July 7 as “Gas Safety Week” during which such events as an international seminar and several campaigns are held to promote the spread of an environment of ensuring gas safety and ramping up public awareness toward gas safety.  

Among the projects the KGS implements to ensure gas safety are the so-called “Timer Cork” project to improve old LPG facilities, an automatic system that shuts off gas flow at a pre-set time. It’s designed to improve public awareness toward gas safety as well as the establishment of a system of detecting LPG leakages. 

The KGS set up a virtual reality experience zone to help crews and the general public experience what cannot be reenacted in the real world or make public awareness toward gas safety part of their daily life.