"Learning ESG and Discussing" SK Employees Rehearse for Icheon Forum Over One Month

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group. Photo by SK

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] SK Group, which has been hosting the knowledge management platform ‘Icheon Forum 2021’ for its internal members for five years, will conduct pre-lectures and discussions for about a month starting from the 15th. Named the ‘Icheon Subforum,’ this event draws attention by adopting an interactive discussion format where SK employees directly participate, rather than one-sided lectures.

According to the company on the 12th, this year’s Icheon Forum will be held over four days starting from the 23rd of next month under the theme ‘SK’s Deep Change Practice for a Sustainable Ecosystem.’ In line with global management issues such as ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and the Financial Story emphasized by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, in-depth discussions will be held to find concrete and practical implementation plans for each topic.

The Icheon Forum was initiated in 201 by Chairman Chey himself, who proposed that “In a rapidly changing economic and social environment, companies need a discussion platform to develop insights that understand technological innovation and socio-economic demands and prepare for the future to avoid sudden disappearance.” Now in its fifth year, the Icheon Forum will again be held in a hybrid online-offline format this year, considering social distancing measures due to COVID-19. The subforum will also feature studio panel discussions with experts from various fields, linked via social media platforms such as Zoom and Clubhouse for video and audio discussions, allowing SK employees to participate.

The subforum will begin on the 15th with a studio-Zoom linked video discussion on the theme ‘Reconsidering ESG: Understanding and Misunderstandings of ESG.’ It will continue until the 10th of next month, divided into nine agendas including environment, systems, fairness, and governance. A company official stated, “We aim to enhance employees’ understanding of changes in the global management environment from environmental, social, and governance perspectives and seek fundamental change measures in technology aspects such as the Financial Story, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital transformation (DT).”

Executives such as Lee Dong-hoon, Head of SK Corp. Bio Investment Center, and Kim Yoon, Chief Technology Officer of SK Telecom, as well as external invitees including Moon Doo-yeol, CEO of the PR agency Filamentree, Ahn Jun-hee, CEO of social media commerce company Mad Square, Professor Cho Myung-hyun of Korea University, and Professor Shin Jae-yong of Seoul National University, will be invited. The content will also be uploaded to SK’s capability enhancement platform Sunny (mySUNI), used for internal employee training, encouraging participants to learn in advance and engage.

At the Icheon Forum 2021 held next month, Michael Sandel, a professor at Harvard University in the United States, will deliver an online keynote lecture and hold discussions with 100 employees. Scholars in the sustainability field such as Rebecca Henderson, a professor at Harvard University, and Amy Edmondson, a tenured professor at Harvard Business School known for leadership theory, will also give lectures.