South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance has rated 18 state-run companies, including Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Railroad Corporation, as “lackluster” or worse during its annual performance evaluation of 130 firms. The assessment follows KEPCO’s 2022 record operating loss of USD25.67bn due to limited electricity rate hikes amid economic slowdown and high inflation. The government is planning to cut bonuses for executives at nine financially fragile state-run firms, including KEPCO, as a part of its austerity measures. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho emphasised the evaluation’s purpose was to assess public firms’ progress in restructuring roles, structures, workforces, and budgets. Furthermore, the government will consider dismissing the heads of five organizations that received lacklustre grades for two consecutive years.