Korea's leading companies, start-ups pledge to improve corporate culture, environment

Korea's big corporations and leading start-ups signed an agreement to work toward steady job creation, sustainable development, improved corporate culture and trust-based relationships with partner companies.

Heads of Korea's major corporations pose after signing an agreement to improve their corporate culture and environment at the headquarters of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in central Seoul on Tuesday. [KCCI]

Korea’s big corporations and leading start-ups signed an agreement to work toward steady job creation, sustainable development, improved corporate culture and trust-based relationships with partner companies.

Collectively calling the elements “a new entrepreneurship,” the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) brought together Tuesday the heads of joining companies including Hyundai Motor Chairman Euisun Chung, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, who also doubles as the head of KCCI, and CJ Group Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik.

Other participating companies include Samsung Electronics, LG, Lotte, Posco, Hanwha, KT, Korean Air, Doosan and OCI, with 74 companies in total.

Unicorn companies, or start-ups valued at over $1 billion, also committed to the pledge, including Coupang, Kurly, Woowa Brothers and Zigbang.

To make the initiative consistent and more concrete, the KCCI will establish a committee in which participating members will set their specific goals and share their results.

In the committee, dubbed Entrepreneurship Round Table (ERT), companies can pledge to start various projects like setting a corporate day for planting or plogging, an activity involving picking up trash while jogging.

“We won’t take a unilateral approach in the committee,” Chey said during a speech Tuesday.

“This is not about blaming companies that underperform and competing with each other,” he added, “Rather, the companies will be able to customize what they are going to do and others can follow suit if it fits their needs.”

The KCCI will also encourage the member companies to refer to requests by the public collected from its survey.

In the survey, respondents chose improving corporate culture as the most important area for a company to work on, saying that the balance between work and life should be ensured.

The second most important factor involves addressing and solving environmental problems, followed by conducting ethical management and building quality relationships with partnered companies.

If a participating unit yields positive results in fulfilling its promise made in the committee, the unit may receive certain benefits.

“We plan to offer incentives in the form of loans and funding through cooperation with financial institutions,” Chey said, “In this way, financial companies can take part in this initiative, though further discussion with the financial industry is needed.”

Chey went on to note that the companies will need to change in order to not become kkondae, a term used to describe someone who patronizes younger people or junior colleagues or forces their ideologies and experiences on them. Originally a derogatory Korean slang which referred to stubborn elders, the term has evolved to represent an attitude rather than just an age group.

“There are different types of kkondae, but they have one thing in common: They don’t listen to others,” Chey said, “The public constantly insists that corporations should change, but if the corporations keep talking about the past and sticking to their old ways, they could be labeled as kkondae.”

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]