Chairman Jung Jin-hyuk to lead TF personally

Four divisions: safety, fairness, field operations, innovation

Korea National Railway headquarters. [Korea National Railway]
Korea National Railway headquarters. [Korea National Railway]

Korea National Railway announced Monday it has launched a restructuring task force reporting directly to Chairman Jung Jin-hyuk, aiming to embed the agency's new management philosophy — "Building the Future on Basics and Principles (BASE)" — across the organization and prepare proactively for the evolving rail environment.

Unlike conventional reorganizations that simply merge or dissolve units, the TF will first redefine the agency's core functions and roles before applying changes to its structure and workforce in stages. Jung will personally lead the TF, overseeing four divisions — safety, fairness, field operations and communication, and innovation — with a final restructuring plan set to be confirmed by November.

The BASE management philosophy centers on four core values: Best safety, Accountable fairness, Systematic field operations, and Evolving Mobility.

Korea National Railway also outlined the restructuring direction for each of the four areas. On safety, the agency plans to elevate the head of the safety division to an executive-level position to strengthen prevention-focused safety management and its control-tower function. It also intends to consolidate safety management across the entire project lifecycle — from planning through construction to maintenance — into a single unified system to build an organization-wide response framework.

In the fairness area, the agency will establish an accountability-based management framework grounded in clear principles and standards across key functions including bidding, contracting, budget execution, personnel management and performance evaluation. For field operations and communication, it will redefine the authority and roles between headquarters and project management units, shifting to a field-complete structure capable of resolving issues on-site immediately, while putting in place systems to manage project delays and risk factors in advance.

In the innovation area, the agency will raise the profile of its AI and data-driven units to promote organization-wide adoption of related technologies, and will significantly restructure its new-growth business functions to allow transit-oriented development and overseas projects to be pursued in a more integrated manner.

"This restructuring is not simply about changing the shape of the organization — it is a process of making 'basics and principles' actually work in how the organization operates and in the field," Jung said. "We will build an organization where safety is prevention-centered, projects are field-centered, operations follow principles, and we respond proactively to future changes in rail."

Jung took office as chairman on Sept. 1. A transportation planning specialist, he previously served as a professor at Yonsei University and held positions including president of the Korean Society of Transportation and member of the National Transport Commission, bringing broad experience in both the theory and practice of rail and transportation.


hwshin@heraldcorp.com