Experts, including President Na Seok-kwon of the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies and Vice President Park Hyun-joon of Shinhan Bank, and Vice President Park Kyung-ho of Korean Air, participate in the Service Future Innovation Symposium at Lotte Hotel in down town Seoul on June 30.

Chairman Kang Myung-soo of the Korean Standards Association (KSA). (Photos: KSA)

Chairman Kang Myung-soo of the Korean Standards Association (KSA) was elected as a Korean representative of the G7 Impact Taskforce’s (IFT) executive council.

IFT is an organ, established during the G7 summit held in the United Kingdom last June, designed to promote global standardization to raise ESG investment evaluation and reporting transparency.

Prof. Moon Cheol-woo of Sungkyunkwan University also sits as a Korean national member of ITF’s advisory committee. KSA Chairman Kang said, “I’m not only pleased to sit on the executive council of G7 ITF, but also feel a sense of heavy responsibility.”

“KSA will play leading roles in the G7 ITF by capitalizing on the expertise capabilities and network related to ESG it has accumulated as Korea’s leading institution of the ISO 26000, an educational institution of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and a certification institution of AA 1000 and offer international trends on ESG to Korean companies,” Kang said.

KSA will devote itself to spearheading the development of the Korean ESG ecosystem and raising its global standing, he said.

Meanwhile, KSA Chairman Kang is expected to propose general views such as matters related to guidances reflecting Korean companies’ reality in themes and reports, to be adopted during numerous conferences ITF will host until December.

‘Service Companies Need to Embrace ESG Philosophy’

The Korean Standards Association (KSA) held the 6th Service Week from June 30 to July 2 under the theme “Service Embracing ESG.”

The Service Week is an event in which experts from several walks of life get together to explore a variety of ways to develop the service industry.

The event is also designed to publicize the significance of the development of the service industry to the people.

Events of the 6th Service Week included a symposium on service future innovation, a Korean Standard-Service Quality Index (KS-SQI) certificate award ceremony, Korea Service Grand Prix awards ceremony, and events designed to recognize those who contributed to the development of the service industry, and academic and other events to celebrate Service Day.

A talk show on ESG took place as an event to open the 6th Service Week on Day 1 on June 30.

Lee You-jae, dean of Seoul National University, said, “The importance of service in a new normal era embracing society cannot be overemphasized, and social issues such climate change, poverty and inequality have been spread globally, so subsequent social innovation is required.”