World Class Enterprise Association Conducts 'Practical Training on Corporate ESG Response Strategies'

The World Class Enterprise Association announced on the 29th that it conducted practical training on ESG response strategies for its member companies.

The training took place at Seoul National University of Education for about two hours, with around 40 members of the World Class Enterprise Association attending.

The instructor was Kim Yong-su, Vice President of the Korea ESG Society. Vice President Kim worked for over 20 years at Samsung Electronics in semiconductor-related investment and new business strategy departments, and also served as a semiconductor industry analyst at Samsung Securities Research Center. Additionally, he held an executive position overseeing overall management at Nepes, a semiconductor back-end process and materials company.

In particular, this training focused on vivid real-world cases occurring in overseas markets related to ESG evaluation issues, which are becoming increasingly important due to changes in the global industrial environment.

A domestic automobile company was excluded from receiving electric vehicle subsidies in France due to excessive carbon emissions during product manufacturing and transportation. In another case, a domestic furniture company faced criticism for failing to safely manage foreign workers' accommodations during the furniture production process, resulting in a complete halt of transactions with a U.S. company.

While the importance of ESG management is growing in business relationships with global companies, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies lack awareness and specialized personnel for ESG management, making it difficult even to establish detailed guidelines.

Vice President Kim pointed out, "Recently, global investment institutions have been withdrawing funds from companies that fail to properly implement ESG management. If SMEs and mid-sized companies do not prepare for this, it could become an obstacle to growing into global enterprises."

He continued, "Especially since 2026, KOSPI-listed companies with assets exceeding 2 trillion won and their partners are expected to face strengthened disclosure obligations regarding ESG activities. Therefore, it is necessary to first conduct an ESG diagnosis, then set ESG vision and goals, and systematically establish short- and long-term plans."

A representative of the World Class Enterprise Association said, "This training was planned so that member companies can understand trends in the global industrial environment and establish concrete measures to respond accordingly. We will continue to prepare high-quality training essential for the global advancement and jump-up of our member companies."

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