January 15 – “Immediate measure is needed to monitor human rights risk management in overseas resource development since this translates to increased competitiveness of corporations in the international market where observance of human rights is recognized as one of the responsibilities”, the participants concluded at a forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The forum, held by the NHRCK, brought together representatives from academia, private sector, and NGOs sharing the results of analyses of major corporations’ human rights policies and research outcomes on business and human rights guidelines.
Based on the research conducted since May 2008, the purpose of the forum was to understand the current human rights policies of Korean corporations and develop approaches to creating human rights policies compatible with Korean business situations.
The fact-finding research, conducted on CSR departments in 100 major corporations through survey and in-depth interview, showed the followings: ▷ Human rights conditions of irregular workers and subcontracted companies are poor, ▷ Measure for evaluating human rights policy of corporations operating overseas must be established, ▷ System for CSR practice is in need, including reporting system, and ▷ Corporations that joined the UN Global Compact have relatively-better practice structures.
The NHRCK is committed to providing education opportunities on human rights management, building network of experts to establish , and ultimately making human rights policy guidelines specifically drafted for Korean corporations.
