The combined debt at public institutions jumped 15 percent last year while new hires fell for the third year.

According to public agencies' managerial data for 2022 released by the finance ministry on Friday, their combined debt reached 670 trillion won last year, up 15 percent from 582-point-four trillion the previous year. 

The increase came mostly from the Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO) and the Korea Gas Corporation as they respectively saw rises of 47 trillion and 17-point-five trillion won last year. The two firms, grappling with high energy import prices, undertook large scale bonds issues that resulted in the debt surge. 

Meanwhile the debt-to-equity ratio at public firms rose to 174-point-three percent, up 22-point-five percentage points on-year, while they posted a net loss of 13-point-six trillion won last year with KEPCO alone incurring a loss of over 24 trillion.

Public firms' combined assets stood at over one-thousand-54 trillion won, up nine-point-one percent on-year, affected by expanded facilities and investments.

The central government is pushing for debt reduction and capital expansion for 14 institutions at risk of mounting debt including the two energy firms.