“KRA will be reborn as a public company that leads the public interest”

The Korea Racing Authority (KRA) announced on Feb. 16 that it held the inauguration ceremony of Jung Ki-hwan, who was appointed as the 38th CEO, marking the beginning of a new leadership to lead the KRA.

The inauguration ceremony was held in a non-face-to-face manner with a minimum number of attendees in consideration of the COVID-19 quarantine situation.
It was broadcast in real time to employees through in-house broadcasting.

In his inaugural address on the same day, CEO Jung expressed his determination to take on a huge responsibility in the midst of a business crisis such as the suspension of horse racing due to COVID-19.

He emphasized the necessity of innovation in the internal and external environment, such as normalization of management, creation of social values, and strengthening of integrity and ethical awareness.

To this end, he expressed his will to achieve ▲strengthening public interest and promoting innovative measures ▲creating a participatory horse racing industry ecosystem ▲designing future-oriented business models ▲expansion of entry into the global market ▲creating an organizational culture of integrity and work.

Specifically, the achievement of the substantive ESG management, the establishment of a 'Social Value Creation Committee' under the direct control of the chairman in which relevant civic groups such as the horse industry and labor sector participated, pioneering new overseas markets to secure future growth engines, promotion of R&D for the horse industry, creation of an integrity and clean organization through innovation were suggested.
CEO Jung said, “We will invest our company-wide capabilities to release the online betting tickets, which is our top priority. “
In addition, he expressed his gratitude to the customers who continued to visit the horse racing park despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a message to employees, he emphasized fairness and trust, saying, “If we perform our duties fairly, a culture of cooperation and consideration can be established in us, which will be nourishment for the restoration of public trust.”

Here, he asked employees to make efforts to create a society where horses and people are happy with an attitude of win-win and cooperation, and ordered that all work together to create a safe workplace.

Finally, he concluded his inaugural address by saying that he would make efforts to become a KRA trusted and loved by the people by making this year, the 100th anniversary of horse racing, the first year of restoring public trust.

CEO Jung served as a member of the Agricultural Policy Reform Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in 2017 and as a member of the Presidential Policy Planning Committee.

From 2019 to 2021, he served as a standing auditor of KRA and was appointed CEO this year. With the inauguration ceremony today, his full-fledged tenure began. The term of the new CEO Jung is until February 2025.