Sung Si-chul, chief executive and president of Korean Airport Corp., has been reappointed, the state-run airport operator said Thursday.

The decision reflects Sung’s achievement in transforming Gimpo International Airport into East Asia’s business hub over the three years, the company said in a statement. His term is due to begin on Aug. 14. 

Since taking office in 2008, he has launched and scaled up routes to connect different parts of Japan and China ― Osaka, Nagoya, Shanghai and Beijing ― with Gimpo Airport, which had traditionally focused on domestic flights.

As many customers turn to the country’s high-speed railway for local travel, Sung also strove to keep air demand high by expanding low-carrier services and cutting parking costs among other measures.

“As the first internally promoted CEO at the company, Sung always puts ‘field management’ as the top priority. He shows up at 6 a.m. even on Saturday and Sunday to look around the airport himself and check out services and safety,” a company official said.

A graduate of Korea University, he is a veteran in the aviation industry with more than 30 years of experience. Sung has held a variety of posts at local airport branches including in Ulsan and Busan since he entered the KAC in 1980.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)