22 Korean Companies Included in Dow Jones Sustainability Index

Korea Productivity Center Announces 2023 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Evaluation Results

As a result of the 2023 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (hereinafter DJSI) evaluation, 22 Korean companies were included in the DJSI World index, which targets the top 2,500 global companies. Since its first evaluation in 1999, DJSI has marked its 25th year this year and is recognized worldwide for its credibility in sustainability assessment and investment.

On the 11th, the Korea Productivity Center (Chairman An Wanki, hereinafter KPC) announced the results of the 2023 DJSI evaluation. DJSI consists of the DJSI World index, which targets the top 2,500 global companies by market capitalization, the DJSI Asia Pacific index, which evaluates the top 600 companies in the Asia-Pacific region, and the DJSI Korea index, which evaluates the top 200 domestic companies.

This year’s evaluation results showed that 320 companies, accounting for 12.6% of the 2,544 global companies evaluated, were included in the DJSI World index, with 22 Korean companies included. In the DJSI Asia Pacific index, 156 companies, or 25.6% of the 609 evaluated companies, were included, with 36 Korean companies included. In the DJSI Korea index, 63 domestic companies, or 31.2% of the 202 evaluated companies, were included.

Looking at the detailed inclusion status, Doosan Enerbility was newly included in the DJSI World index. Additionally, Samsung Securities, S-Oil, and Hyundai Construction were included for 14 consecutive years; Mirae Asset Securities, SK, and LG Electronics for 12 consecutive years; Shinhan Financial Group for 11 consecutive years; Samsung SDI for 9 consecutive years; KB Financial Group for 8 consecutive years; Samsung C&T for 7 consecutive years; LG Household & Health Care and Hyundai Steel for 6 consecutive years. Kakao, Samsung Biologics, SK Telecom, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Mobis, and Hyundai Motor Company were included for 3 consecutive years, while Kia and Hana Financial Group were included for 2 consecutive years.

Newly included companies in the DJSI Asia Pacific index are Kia, Celltrion, NCSOFT, LG Display, and POSCO Future M. Long-term included companies are Samsung SDI, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Shinhan Financial Group, SK Telecom, LG Chem, Hyundai Steel, and KB Financial Group, all included for 15 consecutive years. Mirae Asset Securities, Samsung Securities, SK Hynix, S-Oil, LG Household & Health Care, LG Electronics, Hyundai Construction, and Hyundai Mobis were included for 14 consecutive years; SK for 12 consecutive years; Samsung Engineering, Coway, and Hankook Tire & Technology for 11 consecutive years.

Newly included companies in the DJSI Korea index are DL E&C, Samsung Electronics, Celltrion, SK Square, F&F, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, LG Display, LG Energy Solution, OCI Holdings, Yuhan Corporation, Kakao Pay, Hyosung Advanced Materials, and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. Long-term included companies are Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Securities, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Shinhan Financial Group, LG Electronics, LG Chem, OCI, KB Financial Group, KEPCO KPS, and Hyundai Construction, all included for 15 consecutive years. HD Hyundai Infracore, Mirae Asset Securities, SK, and Hyundai Mobis were included for 14 consecutive years; Samsung Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, SK Hynix, and Hankook Tire & Technology for 13 consecutive years; LG Household & Health Care for 11 consecutive years.

Jo Mina, team leader of the ESG Consulting 1 Center at the Korea Productivity Center’s Sustainability Management Headquarters, emphasized, "Among various ESG evaluation indicators, ESG evaluations with high utilization in the capital market are the most important benchmarks to check the ESG status of companies, and the use of benchmarks based on this is increasing." She added, "In particular, reliability and the operation of a practical risk management system, along with supply chain ESG management accompanied by corporate responses to risks, will be the biggest issues for establishing ESG in our companies in the future."