The sealed nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) secondary battery are primarily used as energy storage for the HEV. But, the research on Ni-MH battery has focused on anode materials. In the present study, we investigate to improve the electrochemical characteristics of Ni-MH batteries using the surface treatment of $Ni(OH)_2$ cathode by CoOOH. Surface treated $Ni(OH)_2$ cathode showed significant improvement in the activation behavior, rate capability, charge retention, and cycle life of the batteries were significantly improved. In addition, the surface treated electrode exhibited the higher overvoltage for oxygen evolution than the untreated electrode. This phenomenon indicates that the charge efficiency can be improved by suppressing the oxygen evolution on cathode.