[2021 Mirae Company Forum] POSCO "Pursuing Economic Performance and Social Value Creation Simultaneously"

Yang Wonjun, Head of POSCO Management Support Division
Protecting the Environment and Creating the Future
Becoming a Company Coexisting with the Local Community
Aiming to Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2050

Yang Won-jun, Head of POSCO Management Support Division, is giving a lecture at the '2021 Asia Future Business Forum' hosted by Asia Economy at the Western Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 29th. Asia Economy set the theme of this year's Future Business Forum as 'Korean-style ESG Solutions in the New Normal Era' and prepared a place to consider ways to enhance the value of our companies through excellent lectures by experts in the ESG field. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] "Companies that perform well will secure more opportunities and continue to grow, but companies that do not will be thoroughly shunned by the market and society."

Yang Won-jun, Head of POSCO's Management Support Division, conveyed this message on the 29th at the Future Enterprise Forum hosted by Asia Economy while introducing the company's ongoing 'Corporate Citizenship' activities. Corporate Citizenship is a management philosophy POSCO announced in 2018, marking the company's 50th anniversary. It emphasizes the need to shift to a growth model that simultaneously pursues economic performance and social value creation, unlike in the past. It embodies the company's commitment to grow together as a member of society, protect the environment, and create a future alongside local communities.

When POSCO was established in 1968, it took on the role of a catalyst for national industrialization by promoting 'Steel for the Nation' in line with the characteristics of the steel industry. However, as social issues have become more complex and the company's business areas diversified, POSCO recognized the need to establish a new direction, which led to the Corporate Citizenship initiative. This reflects the company's early consideration of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, which has recently become a hot topic.

Yang said, "If past corporate management was like a 100-meter sprint, modern corporate management is like a 110-meter hurdles race," adding, "POSCO's new management philosophy is a strategic choice to overcome these hurdles and move toward becoming a sustainable company."

Since announcing the new management philosophy, POSCO has created a charter, established a dedicated organization, and this year, actively responded by setting up an ESG Committee under the board of directors, the highest decision-making body.

Although POSCO has been ranked as the world's most competitive steel company for 11 consecutive years, the nature of the industry, which inevitably involves high carbon emissions, makes the current emphasis on ESG a significant challenge. Considering the excellent economic performance, usability, and recycling rates of steel, society cannot do without steel in the future. Therefore, POSCO is also exploring ways to produce steel without carbon emissions.

This challenge is not unique to POSCO but is a concern shared by the global steel industry and all industrial sectors. POSCO has announced a roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2040 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Yang explained, "The hydrogen reduction steelmaking process to realize carbon neutrality is centered on using hydrogen as a reducing agent instead of coal," adding, "Additionally, we have entered the hydrogen business to seize opportunities created by the low-carbon economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.