Chung In-hee, vice president of Samsung Electronics' Corporate Sustainability Center, delivers a lecture during the Business + Forum at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency

By Park Jae-hyuk

Foreign businesspeople in Korea showed keen interest in Samsung Electronics' New Environmental Strategy, which was unveiled a month ago and introduced in detail during a forum hosted jointly on Thursday by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Chung In-hee, vice president of Samsung Electronics' Corporate Sustainability Center, lectured on how the tech giant will achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 through the company's innovative technologies and products.

The vice president said that Samsung Electronics has sought to reduce carbon emissions, recycle materials and invest in the development of eco-friendly technologies to satisfy governments and clients around the world, which have been asking Korean manufacturers to decarbonize.

She emphasized that pressure from stakeholders has prompted domestic businesses to be more aggressive in pushing ahead with greener business management.

Amid the growing importance of corporate management considering environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors, Samsung Electronics also announced on Sept. 15 that it would join RE100, the global initiative of corporations committed to converting to 100-percent renewable energy use by 2050.

Samsung Display also said Thursday that it joined RE100 last month. Its announcement came a week after Samsung SDI also said it joined the global initiative.

In this regard, a participant in the forum representing a Singaporean startup asked Chung about technologies that Samsung wants from startups.

The vice president answered that the conglomerate is interested in technologies related to its environmental strategy, such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and sustainable materials.

In response to a question from another participant about the feasibility of securing a sufficient renewable energy supply in Korea, Chung said that Samsung is considering cooperating with various partners to overcome the country's challenging environment.

Lyu Jae-won, executive vice president of trade-investment data at KOTRA, described the recent business environment as an "ESG war," underscoring that it has become more important for companies to establish preemptive strategies to brace for the growing calls to pursue ESG management practices.

"We hope this forum raises awareness of ESG management and allows businesses to get insights," he said.