The character of ESG as covered in corporate reports is changing. An analysis presented on January 22, 2026 said it has moved from a manner of describing responsibilities and commitments toward putting forward financial metrics such as operating expenses (Opex) reduced through energy efficiency and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) lowered through ESG-linked loans. The so-called 'Values to Value' shift, which views ESG as a driver that strengthens corporate fundamentals rather than placing it as an expense item, is cited as a feature of this year's global corporate reports. On the investment side, the ones to take up this shift are institutional investors.
A discussion examining domestic conditions at that point of contact was held a day later. At the National Assembly Members' Office Building, a forum on the theme of 'Seeking Measures to Strengthen the Substance of the Stewardship Code for Greater Effectiveness' was held, co-hosted by Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Nam-keun and Kim Yoon. The schedule was set to coincide with the point at which measures to strengthen substance, reinforcing disclosure by firms that do not comply with the Stewardship Code, take effect from 2026.
The presentation opened by tracing the system's history. Hwang Hyun-young, research fellow at the Korea Capital Market Institute, said the Korean Stewardship Code has not been revised even once since its adoption in 2016. In the 10th year since adoption, the wording of the principles has been maintained as is, and this led to the point that changes in the market environment have not been reflected in the body of the code.
Remarks aimed at the state of implementation also came out. In a review by the Financial Supervisory Service, cases of insufficient exercise of voting rights, such as insincere disclosure and perfunctory disclosure by institutional investors, were confirmed. Lee Seung-hee, research fellow at Solidarity for Economic Reform, pointed out that among asset managers participating in the code, the rate of compliance with preparing fiduciary responsibility implementation guidelines and reporting activities is low, and there is a tendency to meet only the disclosure obligations set by the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. There was also a point raised that the larger the asset manager, with a large volume of assets under management and many investee companies, the more sluggish its shareholder engagement activity.
The timing of the review, the number of institutions covered, and the specific percentages of compliance rates were not announced. It is therefore difficult to quantify the scale of the insufficient cases, and only the points the criticism was aimed at are confirmed.
Moves toward supplementing the system were also signaled. Lawmaker Kim Yoon said he would push for a revision of the National Pension Act that widens the scope of Stewardship Code implementation reviews, which is limited to the National Pension Service's direct management, to the outsourced management segment as well. Underlying it is the awareness that if the outsourced portion is placed outside the review, the engagement activity of many code-participating asset managers remains effectively unverified.
Cooperation from the corporate side also came up as an issue. Lee Dong-seob, head of the fiduciary responsibility office at the National Pension Service's Fund Management Division, pointed out that investee companies are passive about providing information. Since information put out by companies is a precondition for engagement activity to be established, it reads as meaning there is a part that is not resolved by investor responsibility alone.
Domestic empirical data showing a correlation between ESG performance and institutional investors' engagement activity has not been produced. Whether the two currents are actually connected can first be gauged from the implementation records disclosed this year, after the reinforced disclosure for non-complying firms is applied. Whether the National Pension Act revision bill is introduced and the content of its provisions are also matters that will emerge around that time.
