New President Hwang Kyu-yeon of Korea Mine Rehabilitation & Mineral Resources Corp. (KOMIR) (Photos: KOMIR)

New President Hwang Kyu-yeon of Korea Mine Rehabilitation & Mineral Resources Corp. (KOMIR) revealed a vision on Sept. 15 to establish itself as an innovative mine rehabilitation and mining industry agency that is tasked with supporting a stable supply of core national mineral resources.

It will also lead in the development of mining areas and resources security.

While delivering a speech at an inaugural meeting at KOMIR headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon-do, President Hwang said, “We will be tasked with playing a pivotal role in securing stably core national mineral resources to spearhead the 4th Industrial Revolution and promoting a sustainable development of the mining area.”

With the establishment of KOMIR, the following streams will be pursued: mineral resources survey, development plan design, production to mine reclamation, and the development of mined areas.

KOMIR will concentrate on becoming a platform to offer a unified and comprehensive public service, covering whole cycles of mine reclamation and the mining industry, President Hwang said.

As for financial soundness, he said assets will be disposed of in a proper time through organic cooperation with the government’s Overseas Asset Management Committee, while financial liquidity and financial expenses will be managed thoroughly.

Hwang, the first KOMIR president, was born in Namwon, Jeollabuk-do. He graduated from Hanyang University Public Administration Department and Carnegie Mellon University of the United States. He began his public duty career after passing a higher administrative examination.

Hwang held major posts such as director-general in charge of trade policy and deputy minister in charge of industry infrastructure at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), president of Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) and president of Korea Resources Corp. (KORES).

KOMIR was inaugurated officially as a new entity integrating Korea Mine Reclamation Corp. (MIRECO) and KORES.

An inauguration ceremony took place with a limited number of people from political, academic and other circles and inside and outside dignitaries in attendance to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

KOMIR is tasked with supporting the private sector’s resources development and extending resources development funds as well as stockpiling and trading of mineral resources, including supporting mine reclamation and the coal industry, subsidizing coal briquettes for people in the low-income bracket and extending of loans for replacing closed mining areas with alternative industries.

KOMIR is no allowed to make direct investments in overseas resources development projects, but rather it is engaged in expanding the stockpiling of rare metals and strategic mineral resources such as rare earth elements to secure a stable supply chain of core mineral resources, being used as raw materials of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

A whole view of Korea Mine Rehabilitation & Mineral Resources Corp., located in Wonju, Gangwon-do.

KOMIR, established with a paid-in capital of 3 trillion won, have a four-division structure: Business Management Division, Mine Reclamation & Safety Division, Mineral Resources Division and Regional Industry Division.

A team responsible for disposing of overseas assets is set up separately to improve its financial conditions.

Its launch received final approval from the Cabinet, which in a meeting on Aug. 24 passed an ordinance to accompany the law that governs the formation and operation of the new body.

Korea Resources, which was chiefly tasked with securing natural resources overseas for the resource-poor country, hemorrhaged massive losses from a series of failed direct investments in foreign mining projects under the former Lee Myung-bak administration.

As of last year, its debt stood at 6.73 trillion won ($5.76 billion), overwhelming its total assets, evaluated at 3.02 trillion won.

Most of the losses came from a nickel mine project in Madagascar and a copper mine project in Mexico.

The company invested 2.31 trillion won and 1.74 trillion won into the two projects, respectively, but managed to retrieve just 33.8 billion won and 207.3 billion won.

To curb losses, Korea Resources in March liquidated its 30 percent stake in a copper mine in Chile for $152 million to a Canadian company, which is just 60 percent of the $240 million in investments the company had poured into the project over the last decade.