"ESG Information Disclosure System Requires Standardization and Unification"

FKI Holds '4th K-ESG Alliance Meeting' on Disclosure Policy Direction
Financial Services Commission: "Government and Companies Must Collaborate on ESG Response"

Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Kim Yoon, Chair of the K-ESG Alliance, and Kwon Tae-shin, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (from left), are applauding the introduction of participants at the "4th K-ESG Alliance Meeting" held on the 16th at the Federation of Korean Industries Conference Center. Photo by Federation of Korean Industries.

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] There has been a call to strengthen companies' disclosure response capabilities through an efficient ESG information disclosure system.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) announced on the 16th that it held the "4th K-ESG Alliance Meeting."

The meeting was attended by Kim Soyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Kim Yoon, Chairman of the K-ESG Alliance (Chairman of Samyang Holdings), and member companies of the FKI K-ESG Alliance, and was held under the theme "Current Status and Future Directions of ESG Disclosure Policy."

At the meeting, Kim Yoon, Chairman of the K-ESG Alliance, said in his opening remarks, "Currently, companies are facing the issue of how much and in what way to disclose non-financial information on issues such as environment and society," adding, "There are many ESG information disclosure systems being implemented domestically and internationally, and companies are feeling the burden of these."

Currently, ESG-related information disclosure systems implemented in Korea include ▲Corporate Governance Report disclosure ▲Environmental Information disclosure ▲Sustainability Management Information disclosure, and the number of companies subject to mandatory disclosure is expected to gradually expand. In this regard, the FKI emphasized the need to alleviate the burden on companies and improve efficiency in ESG information disclosure through standardization and unification of various ESG information disclosures.

The Financial Services Commission also stated that efforts by both the government and companies are necessary to build an ESG ecosystem.

Kim Soyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, explained, "It is important for the government and companies to appropriately respond together to the new era trend called ESG," adding, "We will expand the institutional foundation across the entire ESG ecosystem, from disclosure to evaluation to investment."

Along with this, the government plans to promote key policy tasks such as ▲Responding to global discussions related to ESG disclosure ▲Overhauling the domestic ESG disclosure system ▲Enhancing transparency and expertise in ESG evaluation ▲Supporting the transition to ESG management for small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies. Vice Chairman Kim mentioned, "If companies adapt well to the new changes called ESG, they will be able to secure differentiated strengths compared to their competitors."

Kim Kwangil, Director of the Fair Market Division at the Financial Services Commission, emphasized that as investors' demands for expanded ESG information disclosure increase and ESG becomes a factor driving companies' long-term growth, it is important to provide reliable and comparable ESG information to both investors and companies. Accordingly, the Financial Services Commission plans to actively participate in international standardization discussions on ESG disclosure and also refine the domestic ESG disclosure system by concretizing the disclosure methods for sustainability management reports.

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