The 19th Korea Gas Safety Grand Award Ceremony took place at the 63 City in Yeouido, Seoul, on May 24, during which 46 people were presented with various awards for their contributions to the safety of gas in the presence of some 500 dignitaries and related industry executives. Those on hand included Minister Hong Suk-woo of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), President Choo Kang-soo of Korea National Gas Corp., and Jun Dae-chun of Korea Gas Safety Corp., among others. 

The main theme of the event was “$1 Trillion Safety Achievement and $2 Trillion Safety Control.”

Among the 46 award winners was President Chung Yeun-wook of Kyungnam Energy Co. who clinched the Industrial Merit Bronze Medal for the development of gas facility safety equipment to prevent industrial accidents and damage, including adhesive gas stoppers, valve control equipment, suspension equipment, and other items whose intelligent property rights are held by the company.

MKE Minister Hong, in his congratulatory speech, said he would like to thank those in the gas safety industry for their hard work to upgrade gas safety to the current level in Korea, as the safety of gas has a great impact on the growth of the national economy, although it is yet to reach the level of advanced countries. 

“We have to strengthen the watch on the dead corner of gas safety and prevent recurrences,” Hong said. He called for cooperation among large and small businesses to improve the safe use of gas in neglected areas, recalling that gas accidents happen due to negligence while urging everyone to make the safe use of gas part of daily life.

The minister said, “In order to achieve $2 trillion in international trade, we have to achieve $1 trillion gas safety and $2 trillion gas safety management.”

Other individual award winners included President Koh Kwang-joon of Korea Gas Industrial Co. who won the Industrial Merit Iron Medal for his contribution to the safety of gas during his career in the industry since 1969, which included his role in setting up an institution for the inspection of equipment using gas and leading it to be a supplier of LPG. He also was given credit for introducing for the first time in Korea the equipment needed for the safe use of gas such as the loading arm exchange, equipment to prevent excessive gas recharge, and the dispenser protection chain, playing a leading role in preventing gas mishaps.

Managing Director Ahn Young-chang of Samchully Co. won the Industrial Award for his achievements in leading the company to win the top award in the evaluation of gas safety in the city gas industry in 2007, 2008, and 2010.

Oh Won-hee, manager of the Headquarters of Korea Gas Safety Corp. also won the Industrial Award for his contributions to expanding the collective gas safety measures both at home and abroad, especially in such key areas as power generation, steel production, airports, and military barracks. He also had his hands in exporting gas safety inspection techniques overseas to such countries as Oman, Malaysia, and Vietnam, among others, and the inspection of the safety of gas pipelines along the four major rivers around the country.

The Presidential Citation went to President Choi Sung-ho, for his roles in building a top-gas safety checkup infrastructure for Seoul City Gas Co., securing and training 543 professional technicians for checking gas safety, and the investment of 225 billion won for building and running the Center for Gas Safety Technology Education and the Institute for Gas Safety Experience, among the company’s many projects to advance gas safety technologies and produce safety experts. #