Choi Jung-woo's Leadership Accelerates POSCO's 'ESG Management'

First Meeting of CEO Advisory Body 'Corporate Citizen Advisory Council' Held
Three ESG Experts Added... Exploring Safety Implementation Measures

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Choi Jung-woo, chairman of POSCO, is accelerating ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. The management philosophy of the first phase, ‘Corporate Citizenship,’ is being elevated to ‘ESG Management’ in the second phase this year, with a strategy to strengthen the company’s social and environmental responsibilities.

POSCO announced on the 8th that it held the first meeting of the ‘Corporate Citizenship Advisory Council,’ a CEO advisory body, in 2021. The Corporate Citizenship Advisory Council is a CEO advisory body that was newly established in 2019 by reinforcing the Corporate Citizenship Committee with three experts in safety, environment, and organizational culture to further strengthen strategic advice on ESG.

In February, POSCO established an ‘ESG Committee’ under the board of directors’ specialized committees. The Corporate Citizenship Advisory Council members include Kwak Soo-geun, honorary professor at Seoul National University and chairman of the Corporate Citizenship Committee; Jang Se-jin, professor at KAIST Graduate School of Management; and Kim In-hoe, professor at Inha University Graduate School of Law. In addition, three external experts were newly appointed as members.

As a safety expert, Moon Ki-seop, former head of the Ministry of Labor’s Industrial Safety Division and Occupational Accident Prevention and Compensation Policy Officer, and former head of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Human Resources Development Project Group, joined. As an environmental expert, Kim Jong-dae, professor of business administration at Inha University and former chair of the National Pension Service’s Responsible Investment Subcommittee and the Environmental Management Society, participated. As an organizational culture expert, Yoo Kyu-chang, dean of Hanyang University’s College of Business Administration and former president of the Korean Society of Human Resource Management, newly joined.

At the first meeting of 2021 attended by the Corporate Citizenship Advisory Council members and POSCO officials, the meeting began with an explanation of the corporate citizenship promotion direction to be actively pursued this year, shared plans for publishing the 2020 Corporate Citizenship Report, and explored specific measures for POSCO’s safety execution strategy.

Since his inauguration in 2018, Chairman Choi has emphasized the management philosophy of ‘Corporate Citizenship’ and the company’s social and environmental responsibilities. Last year, he announced the goal of achieving ‘carbon neutrality’ by 2050 in the same context. Earlier, in July 2019, POSCO successfully issued ESG bonds worth 500 million dollars. Chairman Choi is known to have ordered the company-wide concretization of ESG management-related achievements this year.

POSCO plans to hold the Corporate Citizenship Advisory Council quarterly in the future to review the implementation performance of corporate citizenship, provide strategic advice on industrial safety and health issues, and actively promote ESG management.

Meanwhile, through strategic advice, the Corporate Citizenship Advisory Council has significantly contributed to the publication of the Climate Action Report reflecting the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) recommendations and POSCO’s declaration of carbon neutrality.