The Financial Services Commission said on July 6, 2026 that it would present its final plan for mandatory ESG (sustainability) disclosure after consultations with related agencies. It also explained that the scope of application and the start date circulating in the market have not been finalized. The review criteria presented by the FSC are international alignment, corporate acceptability, and the usefulness of the information.
The explanation came as a rebuttal to a July 5, 2026 report in a daily newspaper. That report said the government was moving to require some 100 KOSPI-listed companies with assets of 10 trillion won or more to enter in their business reports not only carbon emissions and reduction targets but also the impact of climate change on sales, production facilities, and supply chains.
The baseline is the draft released for public comment in February 2026. The draft called for phasing in disclosure obligations on KOSPI-listed companies with consolidated total assets of 30 trillion won or more from 2028, and those with 10 trillion won or more from 2029. Scope 3, which covers suppliers and the product use stage, was deferred by three years to 2031. Rather than introducing statutory disclosure right away, the draft laid out a path of operating the regime as Korea Exchange disclosure for a set period and then converting it to entry in business reports, and third-party assurance was designed to be left voluntary at first and made mandatory in stages.
A July 7, 2026 report also said a plan broadening the scope beyond the draft was under discussion. Under that structure, the regime would start in 2028 with about 107 KOSPI-listed companies with consolidated assets of 10 trillion won or more, then expand to those with 5 trillion won or more in 2029 and 2 trillion won or more in 2030. Compared with the draft, the application date for the 10-trillion-won bracket would be moved up by one year. The FSC did not confirm this.
The same day, six economic organizations issued a joint statement calling for phased introduction and a review of the final plan. They asked that, in place of immediate implementation of statutory disclosure, the exchange's voluntary disclosure be operated for a set period before conversion, that Scope 3 be excluded or deferred over the long term, and that third-party assurance be given sufficient preparation time and detailed standards.
The trend abroad runs the other way. The European Commission adopted simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as delegated legislation on July 3, 2026. It simplified the materiality assessment procedure, cut the number of mandatory disclosure items, and narrowed the scope of value chain information required.
Commercially sensitive information was allowed to be omitted in part. The Commission estimated that the adjustment would cut corporate costs by 4.7 billion euros (about 8.239 trillion won) over the five years from 2027 to 2031.
The simplified standards still face a two-month review procedure by the European Parliament and the EU Council. If they pass as they stand, the companies covered will apply the revised standards from fiscal 2027.
The international standard on which the domestic review plan rests is the ISSB standard under the IFRS Foundation, with domestic standards reflecting Korean industry conditions layered on top. Put international alignment first and Europe's easing stance is cited as grounds, put the usefulness of information first and the logic for broader coverage gains force.
There are also mechanisms the FSC is reviewing alongside. Given that ESG disclosure is by nature information that cannot avoid including forecasts and estimates, the introduction of a safe harbor is under review, within limits that do not undermine accountability for disclosure. The situation is different on third-party assurance. With international standardization talks still under way on how to align the level and scope of assurance and the supervisory framework, the FSC said it would set the timing of mandatory assurance by examining both the maturity of the domestic assurance market and the discussions abroad.
The items to check in the final plan are the asset threshold for the first round of application, the length of the Scope 3 deferral, and the start date for mandatory assurance. The announcement is scheduled for after consultations with related agencies conclude. The preparation timetable for the companies covered will depend on the threshold set then.
