A view of one of the 14 food lorries that KEC dispatched  at so called "Sleepy Resting Places" for 360 youths who want to start their own businesses seen outside Seongnam City in the Seoul Circulatory Highway.(Photo: KEC)

Korea Expressway Corp. said it was given the “Grade A” rating in an evaluation of its management of 30 public organizations. It was the fourth year in a row that it aced the evaluation overall, making it stand out among firms that were evaluated, including integrated management and major business sectors. 

The highway company declared it would embark on “a second start” for its business operation in 2013, promising to look at everything from the eyes of the people and to work for the happiness of the people. As a result, the company was able to create jobs for youths and introduced the 20,000 won high pass terminal, ex-OIL, ex-HUB, the One Tolling Service, and “luxury” resting rooms at stops along highways, which were given great reviews by expressway users.

The highway company installed 88 sales counters at highway resting areas and 14 food lorries at so-called “Sleepy Resting Places” to 360 youths who wanted to start a business of their own. They were able to test their business ideas at the resting places where many people stopped to take a break. When successful, they secured seed money to kick off their businesses.

The Hannam Dream Reststop located in the capital area, which is one of the busiest resting area in the country, has been used as a cluster for youth start-ups. Twelve sales counters were occupied by young people so they could kick off their start-up operations, while another seven were used for education and practice sessions.

The highway company plans to establish up to 100 more places for youth to start their businesses and ultimately to turn irregular employees to regular ones, in line with the government mission to phase out discriminatory practices in personnel matters.

The company said it is especially proud of the achievement as it came as a result of the employees working together for the same goal amid tough times due to debt reductions and cuts in the SOC investments over the past three years. They will continue to work hard so that the KEC continues to stick to its position as the representative brand to provide top-level service for the people.

In connection with the update of Korea Expressway Corporation’s $3.5 billion global medium-term note program, it announced the following: Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as an arranger and dealer, plus Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, Goldman Sachs International, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, The Korea Development Bank, Merrill Lynch International, Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc, Nomura International plc and UBS AG, Hong Kong Branch. 

In addition, Simpson Thacher, acting as sole international counsel, represented Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Singapore Branch, Merrill Lynch International and Nomura International plc, as joint lead managers, in connection with the offering of $400 million floating rate notes due 2020 by the company under its $3.5 billion global medium term note program. 

Korea Expressway Corporation constructs and operates an expressway network in Korea and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Toll Business, Incidental Business, Supporting Business, and Construction Business. It constructs expressways, tunnels, and bridges; provides expressway maintenance services, such as routine and periodic maintenance, and emergency response, as well as road, facility, and structure rehabilitation; and real-time and three-dimensional road management services. 

The company also offers various traffic management services, such as traffic information; congested area management services, such as shoulder lane system, bus-only lane system, and ramp metering system services; and traffic safety management services, including safety patrol services.