KAMCO Receives 'Poor' Grade for Debt Adjustment and Safety Management, While President Earns 'Average' Evaluation

Fatal Accidents at Commissioned Construction Sites
Point Deductions for Inadequate Tracking of Concealed Debtor Assets
President Jung Chunghoon Receives ‘Average’ in Leadership Evaluation
Calls for Improved Management Systems in Debt Adjust

Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO) was the only financial-related public institution to receive a "Poor (D)" grade in the public institution management evaluation. This result was found to be due to a combination of factors, including safety accidents at KAMCO-commissioned construction sites, insufficient systems for verifying and tracking concealed assets of debt restructuring candidates, and inadequate management of national properties. In contrast, Jeong Jeonghoon, who was appointed as KAMCO President in May last year, received an "Average" grade in a separate evaluation for institution heads, which is one level higher than the institution’s overall rating.

Jeong Joon-hoon, President of Korea Asset Management Corporation. Provided by KAMCO

According to the government and the public institution management evaluation panel on June 22, KAMCO received the lowest rating among all financial-related public institutions subject to this year’s management evaluation. Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation received an "Excellent (A)" grade, Korea Housing Finance Corporation received a "Good (B)" grade, while Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and Korea Technology Finance Corporation both received an "Average (C)" grade. KAMCO’s evaluation grade dropped two notches compared to last year.

Among KAMCO’s main businesses, the lowest score was given to the "Public Asset Value Enhancement Project," which is responsible for the development of state and public land, management of national properties, and the sale of seized assets. In particular, a series of accidents—including fatalities—at construction sites commissioned by KAMCO was a major reason for the downgrade. KAMCO’s occupational death rate was 14.03 per 10,000 workers, about 7.2 times the public institution average of 1.94. Its occupational accident rate was also 2.53%, more than four times the public institution average of 0.61%.

The evaluation panel concluded that KAMCO’s safety management system and accident prevention efforts for commissioned construction projects were insufficient. The occupational death rate indicates how many workers per 10,000 died due to work-related accidents. The occupational accident rate refers to the percentage of all workers who were injured or killed in workplace accidents.

The fact that KAMCO received multiple criticisms from the Board of Audit and Inspection during the national property management process also negatively affected the evaluation. Specifically, cases such as improper private contracts, failure to impose compensation fees on unauthorized occupants of national property, and failure to seize overdue receivables were identified, resulting in disciplinary actions and warnings. There were also concerns about "fire sale" asset disposals, as the auction price ratio fell during the process of expanding national property sales, raising questions about whether assets were being disposed of at excessively low prices.

The "Household Stability Support Program," which handles debt restructuring for vulnerable groups, small business owners, and the self-employed, also received poor marks. The evaluation pointed out that the system for detecting and tracking fraudulent transfers—where debtors hide or transfer assets such as virtual assets or unlisted stocks to others during large-scale debt write-offs or cancellations—was inadequate.

The New Leap Fund project, which terminates the debts of long-term delinquents, was also found to require improvement in evaluation and post-management. While KAMCO pushed ahead with large-scale purchases and cancellations of receivables in a short period after the launch of the New Leap Fund, the system for thoroughly analyzing the process and results, and reflecting any identified issues in future operations, was deemed insufficient. As participation from private lenders fell short of expectations at the beginning of the New Leap Fund, the panel recommended strengthening promotional efforts and improving incentive structures to encourage the sale of receivables.

Although the overall evaluation of the institution was poor, President Jeong Jeonghoon, who took office in May last year, received an "Average" grade in the evaluation of the institution head’s performance in fulfilling the management contract. This evaluation is conducted separately from the comprehensive institutional evaluation, and President Jeong’s grade is one level higher than KAMCO’s overall "Poor (D)" rating. President Jeong stated, "We will continue to strengthen the framework for inclusive finance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.