South Korea’s business community has launched a self-regulation initiative that aims to set norms for fair and transparent management with a focus on responsible business conduct to comply with tougher regulations and stave off growing anti-business sentiment from the public.

Korea Employers Federation (KEF), a pro-business lobby group, signed an agreement with Korean Academic Society of Business Administration (KASBA) and Maeil Business Newspaper to promote RBC on Tuesday at the 20th annual conference on business management held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

KEF Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik and KASBA Chairman Lee Doo-hee attended the event along with Maeil Business Newspaper Chairman Chang Dae-whan. The conference also invited about 400 leaders from public, private and academic sectors, including Lee Cheol-woo, governor of North Gyeongsang Province; Joo Nak-young, mayor of Gyeongju; and Kim Gyo-hyun, chief executive of Lotte Chemical.

RBC goes beyond the concept of traditional corporate social responsibility to focus on the role of businesses to prevent and address actual or potential adverse impacts of their operations. The concept was first introduced by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in its Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in 1976 and has since served as a risk-based due diligence mechanism to protect society against harm caused by companies.

Chang in his keynote speech called for greater deregulations to allow market forces to drive growth and create quality jobs.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Kim Hyo-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]