Forum on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Considerations in South Korea

Our first Keynote Speaker, Mr. June Yong Lee (Kim & Chang, Senior Foreign Legal Counsel) began his lecture with the topic of how the South Korean government has responded to the pressing issue of climate change. Particularly, he discussed how the former Moon administration declared plans for carbon neutrality and how these plans have been adopted or modified by the current Yoon administration in terms of nuclear, renewables, and energy price policies. He highlighted the ESG legal issues these policies have produced for Korean clients seeking business abroad or foreign companies carrying out their business affairs in South Korea.

Our second Keynote Speaker, Mr. Junseo Lee (Korea Legislation Research Institute, Senior Researcher) gave his nuanced perspective on ESG legislation and policies in South Korea. He emphasized how current ESG legislations seek to expand the functions of the private sector and the market as well as strengthen self-regulation. He predicted that future legislation will pursue a broadening of businesses’ obligations to disclose environmental information and provide support to environmentally responsible investments. As for ESG policies, Mr. Lee envisioned that future disclosures will tend to focus more on environmental sectors.

Mr. Yoon Ryung Eom (Lee & Ko, Partner) gave his expert perspective on waste management legislation and policies in Korea and how they are directly as well as indirectly tied to ESG considerations. Mr. Eom explained how the waste management ESG market in South Korea continues to expand at a rapid pace and, therefore, law firms as well as related businesses must pay increased attention to related compliance and due diligence matters. He emphasized that waste management litigation could be significant enough to put mid-sized firms out of business or face great financial loss.

Dr. Changdeok Gim (UCI Law, LLM Class of 2023) gave a lecture about climate change and challenges in the realm of ESG. Dr. Gim expressed concern that climate change impacts and risks are becoming increasingly complex, more difficult to manage, and will eventually result in multiple hazards across sectors as well as regions. He discussed some of the legal, institutional, and operational challenges in relation to ESG that exist not only in the U.S. and South Korea but other parts of the world as well, and called for a comprehensive approach towards addressing these issues. 

Finally, Professor Sung Eun (Summer) Kim (UCI Law, Professor and Director of Korea Law Center) discussed how the ESG gatekeeping market has grown in importance as interest in ESG considerations continue to expand. In this vein, Professor Kim noted that there is a significant level of variance amongst ESG assessments which has harmed their credibility. She added, however, that convergence does not necessarily mean reliability, and in contexts of value plurality internal consistency within gatekeepers (rather than external consistency across gatekeepers) can be a preferred measure of integrity.