KLRI : KOREA LEGISLATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

  

Korea Legislation Research Institute (KLRI, President Yeoung-Soo Han) held an international academic conference under the theme of “E.S.G.: The Road to Sustainability” at the Rose Room in Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas from 9 am on June 15 (Thur.).

The conference was attended by the KLRI President Yeoung-Soo Han, Co-chairmen of the National Assembly's E.S.G. Forum Hae-Jin Cho, Member of National Assembly Sung-Joo Kim, Chairman of Financial Services Commission Joo-Hyun Kim, and Chairperson of Korea Fair Trade Commission Ki-Jeong Han along with other heads of ministries related to the E.S.G. policies.

 

Since 2020, KLRI has been leading the research on E.S.G. and the relevant policies by carrying out timely research with high expertise with prompt analysis of domestic and foreign legislative trends. 

Team manager of the KLRI’s E.S.G. Legislation Yoo-Kyung Choi said, “This conference has been prepared for more than a year to discuss more specifically on the implementation of E.S.G. for a sustainable society with the experts on Governance from home and abroad. The purpose of this conference is to identify the roles and tasks of countries in the Asia-Pacific region and to establish future cooperative relations.” 

 

Professor Jeffrey N. Gordon at Columbia Law School who gave the keynote speech on ‘Why Climate Discourse Should Be Separated from Discussion on E.S.G.’ presented philosophy and theory on the reason why E.S.G. discourse should be treated independently from the discussion on climate change and environmental law.

The topic of the session 1 was ‘The Making of E.S.G. and How Does It Work?’. Professor Elizabeth Pollman at the University of Pennsylvania and Professor Joon-hyuk Chung at Seoul National University spoke on the theme of ‘The Making and Meaning of E.S.G.’ ‘Channels of  E.S.G. Pressure’ respectively. 

The second session was designed to find implications of the disclosure of corporate governance in Korea under the theme of ‘the Governance Aspect of E.S.G.’. Professor John D. Morley and Professor Luh Luh Lan at National University of Singapore presented their latest research on ‘External Corporate Governance’ and ‘E.S.G. and Director's Duties: Defining the Interest of the Company’ respectively.

At Session 3 with the theme of ‘Diversity and the E.S.G. Stewardship’, Professor Gee-Young Min at Michigan State University shared the results of an empirical analysis on E.S.G. and the  diversity issues in corporate’s board in the US in her presentation titled ‘Diversity at the Top.’

The last session was about ‘E.S.G. in Asia’. In this free discussion session, panelists discussed the status of E.S.G. of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, Singapore, and Australia and the direction of future cooperation. 

Discussants of the conference included KLRI Senior Research Fellow Yoon-Jung Kim, KLRI Senior Research Fellow Ki-Ryeong Park, KLRI Senior Research Fellow Yoo-Kyung Choi, and Professor Soo-Hyun Park at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. Various questions from experts in the relevant fields contributed to more in-depth discussion. 

 

KLRI President Young-Soo Han said, “It is essential to establish private and public governance (G) along with the implementation of environmental (E) and social (S) elements to shift to the sustainable society and economy. That is why we have brought renowned scholars around the world together to discuss this issue.” He continued saying, “We need more interest in putting E.S.G. in place with more systematic and professional way.” The Conference also had invited experts from academia, legal professions, and E.S.G. rating agencies including Jae-Hoon Yoo President of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, Ryun-Min Park, Head of the Seoul Metropolitan Area Air Quality Office, Tae-Young Baik ISSB member, and Yeon-Chul Yoo Secretary-General of Global Compact. Discussions on the establishment of the domestic E.S.G. system took place amid the keen interest,

 

  

Date: June 15, 2023

Venue: Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas