South Korea announced on Thursday a major restructuring of state-owned energy
and transport firms as part of broader public institution reforms aimed at
cutting costs and boosting competitiveness. The government said the state oil
company will merge with the state gas company; five subsidiaries of the state
power utility will be consolidated; Korea Coal Company will be liquidated; and
four regional port authorities will be merged. The government said the measures
will remove overlapping functions, consolidate subsidiaries and smaller public
bodies, and reallocate technology and personnel to improve infrastructure
management.