Lee Suk-chae KT chairman

By Cho Mu-hyun

KT announced Friday that it has been chosen as a “global super sector leader” by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).

The annual review chose the mobile carrier for the second consecutive year as the most sustainable business in the telecommunications “supersector.” Out of 58 sectors under review, the index chooses 19 supersectors and identifies the top firm.

DJSI is a joint study by the United States’ Dow Jones and Switzerland’s investment boutique SAM on the sustainability of companies across the world. SAM invites 2,500 global companies to report on their yearly performance.

“KT being named one of the most sustainable telecommunications businesses in the world proves that our combined mobile and fixed-line services meet the global standard,” said KT spokeswoman Kim Yun-jeong. “KT will not only continue to offer the best possible next-generation services, such as our top-class LTE (long-term evolution) one, we will focus on increasing corporate responsibility such as conserving the environment and helping social minorities.”

The DJSI includes in-depth analysis of economic, environmental and social criteria, such as corporate governance, water-related risks and stakeholder relations, with a special focus on industry-specific risks and opportunities, according to the agency and KT.

Two other Korean businesses were among the list of 19 leaders: GS Engineering & Construction in the construction and materials sector, and Lotte Shopping in retail.

KT attributed the nomination to Chairman Lee Suk-chae’s strong push that saw the company gain 2 million LTE subscribers quicker than its rivals, 8 million high-speed wired Internet users and 5 million Internet protocol television (IPTV) customers.

The firm believes itself central to creating a healthy information technology ecosystem in Korea. It has vowed not to take ideas and waste resources of small- and mid-sized businesses, and to co-exist instead of competing with them.

“We want to invest in values, not services. We will continue to support software companies for them to become competitive and help them go global,” said Kim.

The firm’s 3,100 employees all voluntarily work in 700 children centers across the nation, she said. The company scored 83 points out of 100 in the index’s environment category, up from last year’s 68, which Kim said was from various energy conservation efforts such as building power-efficient data centers.