New paradigm
Driving the economic growth from the ashes of the Korean War to an economic powerhouse with per capita income of over USD30,000 have been the heroic efforts by both Korean businesspeople and workers.
During the era of an authoritarian economic development, the state used to interfere in corporate management as it pursued the policy of fostering exports and core industries through credit allocation.
Over time, the corporate sector has grown significantly, and, as a result, the capital market has evolved to play a far more critical role than during the time of such a state-planned economic regime.
This means that the state-driven economic planning and the state’s practical governance over the corporate sector have also almost vanished for Korea now. All these developments have led to a new paradigm where the role of corporate governance should work in a way that it takes care of both economic restructuring and capital allocation efficiency to ensure Korea’s long-term growth.
More important
going forward
Korea's corporate groups have indeed led the nation's economic miracle during the past decades. Nevertheless, they have been reprimanded for serious moral hazard issues such as tunneling and expropriation, tyrannical management behaviors, and illegal successions for management control.
Indeed, fingers are being pointed at Korea’s corporate groups and their top-executives as the ones who are primarily responsible for depressed economic growth and the economic inequalities.
Provided that corporate activities, which should work to lead Korea’s stable and sustainable growth, fail to acquire social legitimacy and public support within the society, the future of Korea's economy inevitably has to be viewed pessimistically. Thus, the exemplary corporate governance standards, transcending transparency itself, will be all the more important going forward.
Our Mission
The Korean Corporate Governance Forum’s mission is to lead discussions and debates around governance reform and policy development in Korea.
We are a voluntary non-profit organization, without any influence from the government or corporations.
Our members are market participants, academics, policy experts, lawyers and businessmen that are united by our passion for improving corporate governance in Korea. We believe in shareholder rights, fiduciary duty to all shareholders, and an alignment of interests among shareholders, boardmembers and executives that leads to sustainable long term development of the Korean capital markets.
Research: We are constantly analyzing the barriers to exercising rights for individual shareholders in Korea. We have experts understanding and advising appropriate changes to the Commercial Code, listing regulations, holding company laws, and other legislations. We are also researching the effects of the stewardship code, responsible investing, and policies around managing public assets; and reporting the findings in both Korea and abroad.
Education: We provide educational sessions for investors, independent directors of boards, and corporate internal auditors to increase governance expertise and professionalism across Korea. We also hope to be a source of learning for even ordinary citizens, via various outreach programs.
Engagement: We plan to take a step further than just pointing out poor governance practices across Korea. We hope to provide independent witnesses or opinions in important governance related legal cases, and even engage with policy makers in Korea.
We will advocate for the silenced minority shareholders of Korea to reform Korea’s capital markets, eliminate the Korea Discount,
and encourage sustainable and inclusive economic development.
We hope you will join our campaign and look forward to your support.
