Pandemic and climate change are rapidly changing our lives. One of the biggest changes is that it is transforming into a society that pursues meaning and value rather than material gain.

Recently, “Meaning Out” and “Greensumer,” which are often mentioned, have become new trends, and companies are focusing their efforts on brand marketing to convey value.

Then, what is the key to this? It seems difficult to rebel against ‘ESG management’. ESG management refers to a management strategy in which a company values non-financial factors such as environment, social, and governance to secure sustainability. Amid the deepening of abnormal climate and economic polarization around the world, consensus on the importance of ESG has been growing day by day since the pandemic.

Korea Water Resources Corporation announced ESG management in March last year and is preparing for a new era.

First of all, in November last year, it declared its participation in climate crisis management and RE100 for the first time as a public company, leading the transition to a carbon-neutral society as the No. 1 renewable energy company. It is taking the lead in creating a safe Korea even in the climate crisis by promoting ecological restoration projects centered on natural recovery, protecting the people from water disasters such as floods and droughts, and building an urban model that can increase hydrophilicity. In addition, it contributes to the promotion of national water welfare through the reuse of sewage and wastewater, and practices the happiness of dividing it into water.

Efforts are also being made to achieve a fair and win-win society. Using the water usage monitoring system, it is strengthening the system for a win-win society by providing social safety net services to the vulnerable and creating funds to support the growth of promising startups in the water industry. In addition, by establishing an environmental big data platform, it is increasing the convenience of using environmental data, listening to public ideas through the public participation platform “DanBiTokTok”, and using it to develop public empathy policies and services. In addition, it is taking the lead in communication and cooperation, such as the Basin Win-Win Cooperation Committee and the Community Participation Dam Flood Management Communication Conference. All of them are ESG management strategies of the Korea Water Resources Corporation to strengthen the public-centered society and publicity. In order to internalize ESG, it is also planning to complete the plan to settle ESG management within the board of directors by the end of this year.

GRIT means ‘persistence with passion and tenacity’. It is a common feature for

successful people. However, isn’t it a necessary feature for companies now? Only companies that steadily and sincerely practice ESG management, which has emerged as a game changer in the New Normal era, will eventually survive. And we promise that the Korea Water Resources Corporation will continue to be with us on the road to leading ESG management in Korea.

Nam Deok-hyun
media promotion director of the Korea Water Resources Corporation
Director of the Korea ESG Association

For more than a decade, Japan has carried out numerous overseas projects to advance Japanese medical care overseas, fostered medical talent, and dispatched large-scale public-private support groups. Compared to Japan’s large investment in manpower, money, and time, most of its overseas projects have ended in nothing, and it is true that they have faced medical barriers from overseas countries. In some cases, overseas projects have succeeded and produced meaningful results, and Olympus and Kitahara International Hospital are representative. Olympus opened an endoscopic medical center at the National Cipto Hospital in Indonesia (September 2014) in collaboration with the Japanese Society for Gastroenterology, and achieved results as a talent development package strategy to guide Indonesian doctors. Kitahara International Hospital opened a life aid center (50 beds, neurosurgery, orthopedics, etc.) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which was funded by JGC HOLDINGS and INCJ (Innovation Network Corporation of Japan) and founded with a loan by JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).

With Japan making numerous efforts, starting with the outbreak of COVID-19, Japanese medical institutions and medical devices will also focus on stable growth while doing domestic business due to a decrease in motivation for overseas expansion, a lack of budget, and a lack of resources.

For example, the LA Times Asia Journal was able to confirm by talking directly with about 20 Japanese medical institutions that had previously conducted overseas projects, most of which focused on domestic patient care and were not interested in overseas expansion or medical-linked projects. Among them, it was confirmed that three Japanese medical institutions were interested in medical-linked projects with overseas companies.

The first is Kitahara International Hospital, which has been commissioned by Vietnam to build a Japanese-style hospital for 2024, in addition to the Life and Emergency Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When LA Times Asia Journal introduced them to Infoming, a Korean company, the hospital’s planning director was worried about the lack of accuracy of bio-signals, even though he tried demonstration of smart watch products from various countries. In the end, it can be seen that they are also considering the connection of overseas companies for patient bio-signal management in overseas hospital construction and operation management, and that it is a proof that not only provides medical but also puts less resources into preventive management. (For your information, Infomining is a company that developed a solution that analyzes the biological signals of ECG, blood pressure, blood sugar, oxygen saturation, pulse, and body temperature in AI servers and informs the results of medical device-level accuracy on smartphone and doctor’s PC screens.)

The second is Inoue Hospital, which is affiliated with social medical corporation Shunkaikai (Nagasaki-Ken, Nagasaki-City, seven hospitals), and when LA Times Asia Journal introduced them to Infoming, the hospital director said they had the function they wanted. However, since they are conducting a personal health record (PHR) monitoring project that has completed the introduction, it has been concluded that it is impossible to review the introduction due to budget problems at this point. In the end, it is interested in medical-linked businesses with overseas companies, but it can be seen that it is focusing on stable growth of domestic businesses due to decreased motivation due to failure to advance overseas, lack of resources due to COVID-19 outbreak, and lack of budget.

The third is Kaikoukai (Aichi-Ken, Nagoya-City, 43 hospitals), a Los Angeles Times Asia Journal introduced them to Infomining, a Korean company, and the managing director of the corporate headquarters recommended it to the CEO and sales manager of Inocheer (Medical materials, Medical device sales company), a subsidiary of the group. They expressed their wish that they would not spend a lot of time developing software to meet customer requirements every time they sell it, but that they could import it and sell it easily with simple settings. It can be seen that this focuses on the stable growth of domestic businesses through medical-linked projects with overseas companies after a long difficult period. In addition, even though it is a medical device vendor, it is not a treatment-oriented business, but rather a preventive management-oriented business with less resource input for patients’ healthcare.

MIKE CHOI
ASIA JOURNAL