KOGAS Chief Sets Out Energy Platform Plan Citing AI Power Demand
Korea Gas Corporation president Hong Eui-rak told staff on August 26 that the state gas company will be redesigned as an "energy platform company" spanning electricity, hydrogen, data, artificial intelligence and global trading, moving beyond its role as a gas supplier.
Hong made the announcement at the company's 43rd founding anniversary ceremony, held in the international conference hall of its Daegu headquarters with employees present.
The president framed the shift around electricity demand. Addressing the rapid increase in power demand tied to the recent development of AI, he said gas is no longer a fuel that is simply burned but an energy source underpinning the stability of the national power grid, summarised in the formula "gas is electricity".
Hong also named the immediate constraints on that plan: restoring financial health to resolve accumulated unrecovered receivables, and implementing carbon neutrality.
Management and the labour union opened the ceremony by signing a joint declaration of coexistence, committing to the sustainable development of the company and to strengthening the public character of energy. Under the declaration, the two sides agreed to cooperate closely on stable natural gas supply, overcoming the financial crisis, identifying sustainable new businesses, and safety-centred field management.
Hong separately said he would establish a horizontal and transparent communication culture, without distortion or monopolisation of information inside the organisation, to raise trust and competitiveness.
After the signing, a 43rd anniversary celebration video produced jointly by employees across the company was screened, followed by the awards ceremony. Plaques including the "Proud Gas Person" award went to a total of 20 employees.
The union's public position on corporate structure has been less accommodating than the coexistence declaration suggests. In a separate headline carried by Gas News, the Korea Gas Corporation union opposed what it called a rushed integration, saying it threatens energy security.
For a gas incumbent, the platform framing has a specific commercial logic: it treats power grid balancing rather than molecule volumes as the growth market, with hydrogen and trading attached to the same customer base. Hong's own sequencing puts the receivables problem before the expansion, which is the order any lender or ratings desk reads first.
The anniversary ceremony was reported by Maeil Sinmun on August 26, 2026 at 17:05 by journalist Lee Tong-won, and by Gas News on August 26, 2026 at 13:53 by journalist Yoo Jae-jun, in edition 1933.