 |
| POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo takes an oath during the Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety at the National Assembly building in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Park Jae-hyuk
Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) raised questions at Tuesday's National Assembly audit on whether POSCO had taken proper countermeasures last month against Typhoon Hinnamnor, which flooded the steelmaker's main plant in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.
In contrast, lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) defended the steelmaker, arguing that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is trying to shift blame for its failure onto a private business.
During the Public Administration and Security Committee's audit of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Rep. Cho Eun-hee of the PPP asked POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo about how his company had prepared for the super typhoon.
Other PPP lawmakers, Rep. Lee Man-hee and Rep. Park Seong-min, pointed out the fact that the chairman had visited an art fair and played golf, even though he was aware that the typhoon would sweep through Pohang within a few days.
Choi, who became the only head of a top 10 business group to be summoned to the Assembly audit this year, said that his company shifted to emergency mode a week before Typhoon Hinnamnor neared the Korean peninsula. He also said that POSCO suspended all operations at the Pohang steel mill for the first time in its 49-year history, a day before the super typhoon hit the city.
"We expect the steel mill to be normalized by December," he said. "Until then, we will use our inventories and products that were initially supposed to be exported. We will also increase production at our steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, to prevent any setbacks in the supply of steel products."
The chairman estimated that POSCO's annual revenue will decrease by 2 trillion won ($1.4 billion), although he added that it is still unclear how much the steel mill's recovery will cost. However, he emphasized that POSCO will finish the recovery work as soon as possible, in order to minimize the negative impact on the economy.
Rep. Moon Jin-seog and other DPK lawmakers, on the other hand, criticized Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok, who belongs to the PPP, for taking insufficient measures to brace for the flooding of Nangcheon Stream, which is close to POSCO's steel mill.
"I cannot understand the government and ruling party's behavior," Rep. Moon said. "Pohang's city government is responsible for managing the stream, but it is trying to shift the blame onto POSCO."
Before the audit, the ruling and the main opposition parties also disputed who is responsible for the flooding at the steel mill. There has been speculation that the opposition party's defense of the steelmaker is intended to prevent the ruling party from replacing the incumbent POSCO Group chairman, who was appointed during the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
Although POSCO is a private enterprise, the government has continuously interfered with its management through the National Pension Service, the steelmaker's largest shareholder.
![[INTERVIEW] ASTRO members aim to shine in musical theater](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/df16760dc50f469d93434f66a069465c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Hip-hop group Uptown returns after 13 years with new lineup](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/0eae35da5e9c40c38cf439e550a2eb3e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] INFINITE's Nam Woo-hyun returns after battling with rare cancer](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a3c3440b8dc84bce8ca94394a170fef2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
