UN chief calls for ethical corporate management

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged business leaders in Korea to take a greater responsibility for eradicating poverty and ensuring sustainable, equitable development, Tuesday.

“I expect corporations to proactively engage in social and economic issues, such as the eradication of poverty,” the U.N. chief said in a meeting hosted by the Global Compact Korea Network (GCKN), the Seoul bureau of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC).

“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.”

Ban noted that leaders of global companies have been at the forefront of solving issues concerning the international community with their creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.

He praised the commitment that business leaders showed in the Rio +20 Corporate Sustainability Forum in June this year.

The U.N. secretary general also commended Korean businesses’ active engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) over the past several years, saying he has witnessed an explosive growth of the UNGC’s Korean bureau.

Ban expressed his appreciation for the GCKN’s hosting of the world’s first youth conference on CSR. <The Korea Times/Lee Tae-hoon>

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