South Korean tobacco manufacturer KT&G has received the top corporate governance award, the firm said Wednesday. 

This year’s corporate governance evaluation was reviewed by Korea Corporate Governance Service covering some 924 listed companies and financial firms. 

KT&G said it received top grades in the KCGS’ ESG evaluation for two consecutive years, which includes social responsibility, environmentally responsible management and governance, recognized for the high level of sustainable management. 

KCGS said it has highly credited the firm’s preventive measures to possible corporate governance risk by coming up with measures to prepare for a CEO position succession system. Some other efforts include its independently operated board of directors, as well as revision of its internal financial management policy.

“KT&G has been striving to become a company with global-level of sustainable management. Based on the fair corporate governance structure, we will continue to maximize corporate value and shareholder value and complete social responsibility missions,” said Kim Tae-sub, vice president and director at KT&G. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)