UN chief praises SK chairman

By Kim Young-jin

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week praised SK Group Chairman Chey Taewon for his work in social corporate responsibility and sustain - ability.

Ban made the remark during a breakfast meeting Tuesday hosted by the Global Compact Network Korea (UNGC). Urging the business community to participate in fixing global problems such as poverty, he singled out Chey for sharing knowhow on social enterprises at June’s Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum.

Ban said Chey’s idea to build a “global action hub” for social enterprises was a “very good idea.” A social enterprise is an organization that uses commercial strategies to bring improvements to society and the environment.

Chey has found headlines recently during “vetting” of Ahn Cheol-soo, the dean of Seoul National University’s Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology who is running neck-and-neck with Park in presidential polls.

Ahn, a popular figure who has yet to join the race, was criticized for signing a petition calling for leniency for Chey Taewon in 2003.

Chey at that time was sentenced to a prison term for irregularities including accounting fraud and illegal stock trading.

More recently Chey has been touting SK’s experience in supporting social enterprises, saying they are needed to raise employment, reduce the income gap and foster sustainable development.

SK Group recently tailored a maintenance and repair company — which boasted annual sales of 130 million won — into a social enterprise that reportedly spends two-thirds of its profits on social purposes.

Meanwhile, Ban, a South Korean, has been pushing firms here to come in line with corporate social responsibility and sustainable development practices pushed by the UN.

“I expect corporations to proactively engage in social and economic issues, such as the eradication of poverty,” the U.N. chief said at the meeting.

“I hope the majority of businesses in Korea will be placed in the center of the paradigm for sustainable corporate management and social responsibility that the UNGC has been pursuing.”