Korea Zinc announced on the 25th that it held the first Sustainability Management Promotion Committee.
The meeting held on the 20th addressed major agenda items including the approval of the Sustainability Management Promotion Committee's operating regulations, the report on the 2025 Sustainability Management Promotion Plan, the performance of social contribution activities in the previous year, and the report on plans for 2025. About 10 people attended, including Chairperson Jeong Mu-kyung, President of Sustainability Management at Korea Zinc, as well as executives from the headquarters, Onsan smelter, and subsidiaries, and external advisers for ESG (Environment, Social, Governance).
The Sustainability Management Promotion Committee was established this year. This transition occurred when the board's subsidiary ESG Committee replaced the advisory organization for the CEO that had been operating since December 2022. Korea Zinc stated that the Sustainability Management Promotion Committee plans to review agenda items to be submitted to the ESG Committee while fulfilling an expanded role.
Korea Zinc appointed external advisers by sector to strengthen the expertise of the Sustainability Management Promotion Committee. In the environmental sector, Professor Jeon Ui-chan from the Climate Energy Convergence Department at Sejong University was appointed; in the social sector, Kim Jun-ha, an adviser at the law firm The KIN, who formerly served as Director General of the Fair Trade Commission, was appointed; and in the governance sector, Ahn Sang-hee, the head of the Governance Center at the Daishin Economic Research Institute, was appointed.
Korea Zinc plans to improve its ESG evaluation scores and ratings in response to increasingly stringent policies and regulations related to sustainability, such as non-financial information disclosure and responsible supply chain management. Regarding climate change, this year it plans to calculate the carbon footprint of general sulfuric acid for nickel production, and assess the total carbon emissions arising in the life cycle of the product. Korea Zinc has received carbon footprint certification for zinc, silver, copper in 2023, and for semiconductor sulfuric acid in 2024.
In accordance with its social contribution strategy (KZ Clover), Korea Zinc plans to strengthen social contribution activities in four areas: donation service, talent development, culture and arts, and environmentally friendly initiatives. Korea Zinc donates about 1% of its annual operating profit (6 billion to 8 billion won).
Chairperson Jeong Mu-kyung of Sustainability Management at Korea Zinc noted, "Korea Zinc is focused on establishing an advanced governance structure by appointing an outside director as the chairperson of the board for the first time since its founding and setting up an ESG Committee within the board."