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Evening ESG news and briefings to wrap up your day.
On April 21, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Climate Group, the operating body of the global RE100 initiative, jointly hosted the ‘Energy Strategy Dialogue in the AI Era’ at the Sono Calm Hotel in Yeosu. Organized as a key session of the Green Transformation International Week held in conjunction with UNFCCC Climate Week, the event drew officials from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, GE Vernova, domestic and international RE100-implementing companies, and global energy solution organizations. Let us examine the discussions that took place among institutions and companies on energy transition in the AI era.[UNFCCC Deputy Executive Secretary Noura Hamladji speaking at the ‘Energy Strategy Dialogue in the AI Era’ © ESG.ONL]First, the UNFCCC warned that in the era of digital transformation, energy transition is essential, and that failing to handle power energy in a responsible manner could slow the pace of energy transition. In a situation of surging data center power consumption, securing clean power has become a necessity rather than an option. To advance digitalization for all while preventing electricity price increases, securing finance through international cooperation is essential. As the digital divide widens, ensuring that the benefits of innovation are shared by all requires not only energy transition but also sustainable political leadership at this juncture. The Climate Group then emphasized that while South Korea’s policy direction regarding renewable energy is clear, stronger demand forecasting and enhanced support for RE100-compliant companies are needed.Discussions also continued on the day’s key agenda items: responding to the surge in power demand driven by the spread of AI and data centers, managing energy supply chain risks, and building the RE100 ecosystem. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment stated that its goal is to achieve 100 GW of renewable energy installed capacity by 2030. Three major transition directions were also presented: the phased phase-out of coal-fired power, expansion of electric vehicle deployment, and utilization of transition finance. The Ministry also emphasized that a significant portion of the 6.9 tons of greenhouse gas emissions comes from the steel, city gas, and petrochemical sectors, making the electrification of the industrial sector a key task.[Group photo of panelists at the ‘Energy Strategy Dialogue in the AI Era’ © ESG.ONL]Naver shared its implementation strategy from the consumer perspective. It presented the case of leveraging outside air and geothermal energy for data center cooling, reducing cooling equipment utilization to below 10%, and applying double-glazed windows, rooftop solar panels, and geothermal pipes at its headquarters building to reduce energy consumption itself. It is also aiming to achieve 40% RE100 by 2028 by combining long-term renewable energy Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with direct investment in power plants. In terms of the RE100 initiative, Naver stressed that as the renewable energy demand of Asian companies is rapidly growing, there is an urgent need to revitalize the PPA market and improve the institutional framework so that companies can procure renewable energy at predictable prices. Finally, GE Vernova introduced its ultra-high-voltage direct current (HVDC) and Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) technology solutions that address the issue of renewable energy’s lack of inertia, and expressed expectations for cooperation with South Korea by mentioning the West Coast renewable energy interconnection project.Now, as the speed and direction of energy transition are being reshaped faster than ever before, we look forward to seeing what energy policy formulation will result from the dialogue shared in Yeosu. by Editor N
In 1984, James Cameron’s film ‘The Terminator’ depicted a dystopia in which the machine civilization Skynet, having taken over the Earth, uses humanity as an energy source. The scenes in which human body heat and bioelectricity were used as fuel were dismissed at the time as science fiction grounded in abundant imagination. Yet the reality we now face is moving faster than imagination. As the AI industry grows at a pace exceeding expectations, a question confronts us: to coexist with AI, from where must we draw power, and how much of it?Data Centers Shake the Power GridAccording to the report ‘Energy and AI’ published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2024, global data center electricity consumption in 2024 was approximately 415 TWh (terawatt-hours), accounting for 1.5% of total electricity consumption. This figure is projected to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030. In particular, the power consumption of accelerator servers dedicated to AI computation is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 30%. Hyperscale AI data centers consume over 100 MW (megawatts) of power 24 hours a day without rest, which is 4 to 10 times the level of conventional data centers. Goldman Sachs has projected that data center power demand will increase by 165% by 2030 compared to 2023, and that USD 720 billion (approximately KRW 1,056 trillion) in grid investment alone will be needed to meet it.[Hyundai Engineering & Construction Yongin Jukjeon Pacific Sunny Data Center © Hyundai Motor Company Official Website]South Korea is no exception. In its 2025 report ‘South Korea Datacenter Operations and Colocation Services Market Trends,’ IDC Korea projected that domestic data center power demand would increase from 4,461 MW in 2025 to 6,175 MW in 2028, at an annual average growth of 11%. Already, over the 11 months from August 2024 to June 2025, 290 applications for data center power use were filed nationwide, roughly two-thirds of which were concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. The requested capacity in the capital region alone reaches approximately 20 GW (gigawatts) — equivalent to the new power demand of 20 one-GW nuclear reactors. The National Assembly Research Service estimates that a single AI data center consumes up to six times the power of existing facilities and is urging countermeasures.Insufficient Renewable Energy, Lagging PolicyAs demand explodes, supply strategies are also fluctuating. The IEA foresees that while renewable energy will cover half of the additional data center power demand by 2030, natural gas-fired generation will still play a key buffering role amid the demand surge. Big Tech’s investment in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) with electric output of 300 MW or less has also begun in earnest. It is in this context that Google, Amazon, and Microsoft invested trillions of won in SMR developers in 2024. Governments and companies across the globe are engaged in a complex balancing act between the ideal of energy transition and the reality of power supply. [Computer graphic image of Google SMR © Google Official Website]The policy vacuum is already spilling over into social problems. In Ireland, where data centers are projected to account for 32% of total power demand by 2026, the power grid has become unable to sustain itself, leading to a situation in which new housing development has become impossible. Virginia in the U.S. and Germany have introduced regulations restricting data center permits in residential areas and mandating renewable energy supply and waste heat recycling. The EU has formulated the ‘AI Continent Action Plan’ to build a self-sustaining AI ecosystem across Europe, with the policy of tripling data center processing capacity within 5 to 7 years, but simplifying permits only for projects that meet energy and water efficiency requirements. In contrast, in South Korea, the structure in which energy consumption is concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area has become entrenched, intensifying regional conflicts, yet a systematic energy supply and demand roadmap remains ambiguous.The machines in the film ‘The Terminator’ use human skin and blood for the maintenance of their metal frameworks. Through this, the sci-fi film showed us both a vision of the future and a warning. Today, AI is rapidly depleting the power grids and industrial energy of cities. In this situation, the next generation faces the question of where to obtain fuel. If the pace of renewable energy expansion cannot keep up with the power consumption of AI, we may end up choosing yet another form of ‘energy exploitation.’ Now, as we must set the direction of the AI industry, a social consensus on the source of fuel and who bears the cost is more urgent than ever. by Editor N
On weekend mornings, a long line forms in front of the Cheongnyeongpo ferry dock in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon-do. Testimonies of visitors keep appearing on social media: arriving at 9 AM only to find an already lengthy queue, with some saying they waited three hours just to board the ferry. This is the overtourism scene driven by the film ‘The Man Living with the King,’ which has surpassed 16 million viewers. Since late February, the cumulative number of tourists visiting Jangneung and Cheongnyeongpo has exceeded 80,000. Buoyed by the film’s box office success, visitors to Cheongnyeongpo — the place of exile of King Danjong — have surged explosively, and Gangwon State has launched an emergency response.[Poster for the film <The Man Living with the King> © Showbox]An Island on Land Overwhelmed by CrowdsCheongnyeongpo is a peninsular landform surrounded on its east, south, and north sides by the upper reaches of the Namhangang River, with its west side blocked by cliffs. With no road access and reachable only by ferry, Cheongnyeongpo is called an ‘island on land.’ It is also a geological landmark forming part of the Gangwon Paleozoic National Geopark — a park spanning Yeongwol, Jeongseon, Taebaek, and Pyeongchang that showcases Korea’s representative Paleozoic sedimentary rocks — and is designated Scenic Site No. 50. It is precisely this Cheongnyeongpo that draws crowds exceeding 6,000 per day on weekends. Yeongwol-gun ultimately posted a social media notice warning that visitors scheduled to arrive at Cheongnyeongpo after 4 PM might face restricted same-day entry. Ecological Debt Carried by the FerryOvertourism does not simply mean there are many tourists. The problem arises when tourism exceeds the carrying capacity — the level at which the local ecosystem and residents’ quality of life are substantively damaged. At Cheongnyeongpo, this problem becomes more complex. The grove of pine trees over 600 years old filling the interior of the island is an ecological and historical resource that has stood since the time of King Danjong’s exile. When the footsteps of tens of thousands repeatedly press down on the soil, the root systems of the trees are damaged, and when rain falls, soil and sand can be eroded and washed away. National park research has also confirmed that concentrated visitor patterns are a primary factor in the degradation of vegetation and soil around trails. The Cheongnyeongpo ferry carries not only tourists but also the ecological debt that accumulates with every footprint.[Cheongnyeongpo © National Heritage Portal]The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also conducted inspections from March 4 to 13 of approximately 100 restaurants near Cheongnyeongpo for hygiene conditions and price labeling compliance. This is a short-term response focused on the safety and hygiene of the suddenly increased number of tourists. However, a long-term institutional framework for managing tourist capacity remains weak. The first place in South Korea to tackle overtourism was Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul, which was designated a ‘Special Management Area’ under the Tourism Promotion Act in July 2024. It was the first case nationwide, yet even that merely amounted to nighttime passage guidance without separate mandatory regulations. Discussions on visitor cap systems or reservation systems for scenic sites remain at the discussion level. [Cheongnyeongpo Closure Day Notice © Yeongwol-gun Instagram]What Remains After the Box Office SuccessThe box office success of a film will subside someday. The problem is what comes after. Especially when specific photo spots rapidly gain fame through social media, concentrated tourist visits over a short period can sharply damage the ecosystem, and that damage remains even after the popularity fades. What Cheongnyeongpo needs now to pass on its value as a geological landmark intact to the next generation is not a welcome banner for visitors, but a management plan based on carrying capacity. As long as tourism policy uses only economic effects as its performance indicator, the degradation of natural and historical assets is bound to repeat. For sustainable tourism, the invisible costs of ecosystem degradation around cultural heritage sites must be reflected in policy design. Cheongnyeongpo has withstood some 600 years of time; making the island endure the years ahead is the responsibility of the system. by Editor N
When April 5 arrives, corporate press releases pour in without fail. The articles contain a familiar scene: a photo of dozens of employees holding shovels in front of saplings, the phrase ‘a first step toward carbon neutrality,’ and even a wooden plaque inscribed with the number of trees planted. The sight of a company that emits hundreds of billions of won worth of carbon annually planting one hundred trees on Arbor Day and distributing a press release has, before we knew it, become a standardized ESG activity among domestic companies. However, fundamental questions about corporate forest-related ESG activities have recently been raised both at home and abroad. Does ‘having planted’ trees mean they have ‘lived’?[Social contribution activities through tree planting Ⓟ Hyundai Motor Company CSR Digital Magazine]The Evolution of the Tree-Planting Business: From Citizen Participation to Corporate PartnershipsThe tree-planting business has a history of approximately 15 years in South Korea. The social venture Tree Planet, which began as a mobile game in 2010 and drew attention for its model in which ‘users planting trees in virtual space leads to actual trees being planted in reality,’ is regarded as a pioneer in the field. At its peak, it was selected as the official app of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), one of the three major UN environmental conventions, and attracted participation from overseas fans through ‘Star Forest’ campaigns named after K-pop stars such as ‘TVXQ Forest’ and ‘Girls’ Generation Forest.’ However, the center of gravity of Tree Planet’s business today is no longer the citizen participation app. Tree Planet has agreed to carry out a five-year forest ecological restoration project with Hyundai Motor Company starting in 2024, and has signed partnerships with corporations and local governments, including a business agreement with Chilgok-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do for the creation of honey source forests.The Credibility Crisis of Carbon Credits Hidden Behind ESG DemandThis change signifies an overall directional shift in the tree-planting business: from a B2C emotional model in which consumers directly ‘purchase’ trees, to a B2B commissioned model in which companies ‘order’ forests for ESG performance. Behind this is the trend of corporate demand for visible nature-based activities surging after the declaration of 2050 net zero targets. However, this demand does not always lead to genuine forest restoration. The carbon reduction effect of the Brazil REDD+ project (activities to prevent deforestation and degradation) purchased by Samsung Electronics’ UK subsidiary in 2025 was found to be zero, and the reduction effect of the Cambodia REDD+ project purchased by SK Securities amounted to only 11.52%. In July 2024, Google completely halted its purchase of forest carbon credits — emission rights that are certified based on the amount of greenhouse gases reduced and absorbed and can be traded on the market — and declared a shift toward directly reducing its own emissions. MSCI Carbon Market, a global carbon market research firm, estimated the size of the voluntary carbon market in 2024 at approximately USD 1.4 billion (about KRW 2 trillion), but the actual quantity of carbon credits purchased, used, and retired has remained at 180 million tons for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025. This is a signal that companies are beginning to question the credibility of carbon credits. [Pacajai REDD+ Project Ⓟ Kluthe]Steps Toward Verified ForestsThe simplistic notion that ‘one tree-planting event completes ESG’ can only diminish now. The strengthening trend of greenwashing regulations is also a pressure factor. During the 2024 National Assembly audit, it was pointed out that the greenwashing judgment criteria of the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute under the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment are ambiguous and the level of punishment is weak. Accordingly, the government has signaled amendments to related laws. The EU has already adopted the ‘Green Claims Directive,’ which mandates the presentation of verifiable evidence when making eco-friendly claims. This stricter environment may, in fact, become an opportunity for operators equipped with the quality of ecological restoration and a transparent verification system.Ultimately, the conditions for survival in the tree-planting business today are not merely the number of trees, but clearly establishing the quality of ecosystem restoration, multi-year tracking and management rather than one-off events, and the role as verification infrastructure rather than a marketing tool. The scene of companies holding shovels and standing before cameras every time Arbor Day comes around will not disappear for the time being, but if five years of monitoring data does not follow behind that single photo, the meaning of tree planting will gradually fade. [Related Article]Tree Planet Director Jung Min-chul: “Until Everyone in the World Becomes a Tree Planter”
We know the number of unread emails and messages, and the notification counts from various content platforms, all left in a state of ‘not read.’ We know that it is most effective to set up pension savings or insurance for old age as early as possible. But between knowing and doing lies a vast river. Even when the tasks we have put off are not difficult or time-consuming, when left as solo undertakings, they are endlessly pushed down the priority list by more urgent matters. And they ultimately remain as unresolved tasks. There is a new form of gathering culture in which such postponed tasks are resolved by coming together with others in one space. It is called ‘Admin Night.’Alone Together, Together but AloneAmong the 20s and 30s generations in the United States and the United Kingdom, Admin Night — where friends gather to process backlogged tasks — is spreading. Since the meeting venue is usually someone’s living room, the cost burden is also less than when using cafés or study rooms. They do not help each other with their tasks or hold conversations. They simply bring their laptops and to-do items, gather in one space, and then each do their own work.[Admin Night: gathering in a friend’s living room to tackle each person’s backlogged tasks © AI Generated]Admin Night spread rapidly on TikTok at the end of 2025 and began to be introduced in domestic media from early 2026. A productive meetup that shares the time spent processing tasks such as backlogged emails is the core value of this gathering, and it is premised on the idea that being together makes each person’s work go better.Recently, small one-off gatherings have also been active domestically, such as ‘Police and Thief Meetups’ for playing the cops-and-robbers game, and ‘French Fry Meetups’ for eating French fries. But while these aim for light connections with people of similar hobbies or interests, Admin Night is closer to a loose solidarity that shares the realistic burdens of life.The Influence of the Presence of Others on Work EfficiencyYou may have experienced that a task that was difficult to even start on your own suddenly feels far easier simply by being in the presence of others. The most common example is tasks that are difficult to do at home but can be completed with focused intensity at a café. The psychological foundation of such experiences lies in the concept of ‘Body Doubling’ (working or studying alongside another person in a physical or virtual space). [Working/studying together in one space © Unsplash]Body doubling originally drew attention as a strategy for treating and managing ADHD. ADDitude, a magazine specializing in ADHD, introduced body doubling as a practical method to help people with ADHD accomplish tasks that are easy to put off, such as bills or administrative paperwork. It is a method of supplementing the difficulty of execution by creating an external environment.Last year, a study published on arXiv, an academic platform operated by Cornell University, titled <You Are Not Alone: Designing Body Doubling for ADHD in Virtual Reality>, tested the effects of body doubling. Comparing three conditions — ‘working alone, human body double, and AI body double’ — with 12 adults with ADHD, the results showed that those who worked with a human or AI showed higher task completion speed and levels of concentration than those who worked alone.Time Set Aside Together to Get Through the BacklogIt is natural that Admin Night has emerged as a social trend. According to a survey conducted last year by global consulting firm Deloitte of 23,000 MZ generation respondents across 44 countries, 40% of Gen Z reported spending all or most of their time in stress and anxiety, and 74% said they had taken time off because of stress. In an era of overlapping high inflation and burnout, young people have chosen small-scale gatherings where they can share and resolve realistic burdens together. In that sense, Admin Night is also a quiet pushback against ‘hustle culture’ — the social pressure to keep running without rest.Furthermore, Admin Night can also be seen as a social phenomenon in which the culture that once emphasized individual self-discipline and productivity is shifting toward a model of sharing responsibility within solidarity. In this context, Admin Night even appears to be a modern transformation of the communal labor in which villagers once gathered to sew or harvest together.The backdrop of the Admin Night trend is simple. Tasks piling up may not be due to mere laziness, but rather a state in which one lacks the capacity to begin alone, and that capacity can be generated simply by the act of being in the same space as someone else. This is why the global spread of Admin Night also means that, all along, the space of being together with others was needed by far more people than we thought.[Related Article] Why People Eat French Fries with Strangers by Editor N
One can glimpse a company’s ESG status through its sustainability report. But how can citizens experience ESG in their daily lives? It is no easy task to think of ESG while sorting recyclables, or at a senior job site.Busan Metropolitan City has embarked on a new challenge to bring ESG closer to citizens’ everyday lives. The ‘Our Neighborhood ESG Center’ is a living-zone hub that combines resource circulation with senior job programs, creating a space where citizens can experience ESG. Starting with the first center in Geumjeong-gu, Busan in 2022, it has spread across the city and continues to receive favorable assessments as a policy model that integrates environmental conservation and social care, reaching the opening of the seventh center this year. So what process has the Our Neighborhood ESG Center undergone, from the first to the seventh center, to arrive at its current form?The Path to the Seventh ‘Our Neighborhood ESG Center’The first center, which opened in Geumjeong-gu in 2022, upcycled approximately 30 tons of waste plastic to produce and distribute LED lighting, safety handles, baseball uniforms, and more. Alongside this, it linked senior job programs to establish an operating model combining resource circulation and welfare policies. The second center, which began expanding its functions in phases, introduced a sales structure for upcycled products to explore the potential for business self-sufficiency. The third center constructed a system that completes the resource circulation process within the region by having seniors carry out the entire process from washing and disassembling to compressing the waste plastic they collect. [Our Neighborhood ESG Center No. 1 (Geumjeong-gu, Busan) Ⓟ Busan Metropolitan City]The fourth center broadened its scope, forming the ‘Coffee Grounds Resource Circulation Group’ in partnership with cafés in the Yeongdo area to expand the resource scope from plastic to coffee grounds. The fifth center then strengthened resident-participatory experience and education programs, transforming ESG into a ‘value to be experienced.’ The sixth center added community functions, expanding into a living-zone platform combining environmental education and local gatherings.An Empty Space Becomes the Center of a Circular EconomyThe seventh Our Neighborhood ESG Center, which opened this February in Jin-gu, Busan, can be said to epitomize the culmination of this accumulation. Newly created in the space of the now-closed Bohyun Daycare Center, this center transformed an urban idle space arising from low birthrates and an aging population into a composite hub combining environmental and caregiving functions. A space less frequented due to demographic changes has been transformed into a venue for regional circular economy and intergenerational connection.[Our Neighborhood ESG Center No. 7 (Jin-gu, Busan) Ⓟ Busan Metropolitan City]At the seventh center, resident-participatory programs are operated on an ongoing basis, including resource circulation activities utilizing waste plastic, ice packs, and banners, as well as carbon neutrality environmental education and mini hydroelectric generator experiences. Going beyond merely being a facility that collects recyclables, it contributes to providing stable jobs and roles for local seniors, while creating an educational space that nurtures environmental sensitivity in children. It also offers opportunities for participating companies to practice their social responsibility. Through Our Neighborhood ESG Center, practices for the environment that once felt distant have now become something citizens can experience right in their own neighborhoods. The seventh center has become an example that concretely demonstrates a sustainable lifestyle model along with the circular economy that residents, companies, and the local community build together.The Achievements of the Seventh Center, the Future of the SixteenthBy the time it reached the seventh center, Our Neighborhood ESG Center has grown into a pillar of the city’s strategy. To date, it has achieved approximately 3,500 senior job placements, the collection of 126 tons of plastic, and the participation of some 20,000 people in environmental education.Busan City has announced plans to expand Our Neighborhood ESG Centers to 16 locations across the city within this year, in cooperation with public institutions and private companies. As this model combining environment, care, and participation spreads throughout the city, we look forward to seeing what changes ESG will create in citizens’ everyday lives. by Editor N
The 2008 Marvel film ‘Iron Man’ tells the story of Tony Stark, CEO of weapons manufacturer Stark Industries, who awakens as a superhero after witnessing the victims of the missiles he created. In this globally popular film, narratives also emerge in which those harmed by Tony Stark’s weapons awaken as villains. A weapon that is an instrument of ‘deterrence’ and ‘security’ for some can be the seed of anger and revenge for others. This paradox is not fiction. The U.S.-Iran war, which unfolded through the February 28, 2026 U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iran, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, summoned that paradox into reality. The Defense Investment Frenzy Fueled by War CrisisOn March 3, 2026, the stock market opened after the holiday and war news with the KOSPI surging to the 6,200 level before plunging to the 5,800 level, while foreign investors unleashed a massive sell-off of approximately KRW 5.1 trillion, drawing sighs from investors. Yet on the same day, defense stocks moved in the exact opposite direction. Shares of LIG Nex1, a representative defense stock, surged 27.11% to KRW 647,000, hitting an all-time high, while Hanwha Aerospace shares rose 24.85% to KRW 1,492,000, also setting a record. Hanwha Systems shares also skyrocketed 29.40% to reach an all-time high. The strength of defense stocks continued the following day. As it became known that the domestically produced air defense weapon ‘Cheongung-II’ deployed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had actually intercepted missiles launched by Iran in combat, it drew attention as a case in which superior domestically produced air defense weapons exported abroad were deployed in actual combat. The market, in effect, has already firmly classified defense as a ‘crisis beneficiary sector.’[Cheongung-II © LIG Nex1]Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S. defense company, saw its stock price surge by more than 40% after the first airstrikes on Iran last June, and the returns of the American aerospace technology company Northrop Grumman (NOC), which possesses stealth bomber, drone, and radar technologies, also rose overwhelmingly. Europe is no different. Mikael Johansson, CEO of Swedish defense company Saab, revealed that the number of shareholders, which was about 50,000 before the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war, rose to more than 175,000 after the war. In Europe, movements to expand investment targets to sectors including defense are already becoming visible alongside the relaxation of ESG regulations. Can the Defense Industry Be ESG?Amid Middle East instability following the U.S. attacks on Iran, news also emerged that South Korea and the UAE have confirmed USD 35 billion in defense cooperation, going beyond simple weapons exports to build a full-cycle cooperation structure encompassing everything from design to maintenance. The securities industry predicts that, independent of the Iran situation, new order momentum will be highlighted, including the final approval of major projects within the EU SAFE program (a large-scale joint borrowing/defense capability enhancement project to strengthen EU defense capabilities) in March, and the resumption of Middle East business after Ramadan in April. However, domestic pension funds including the National Pension Service have yet to codify ESG investment criteria for defense companies. Amid a situation where defense stock prices are breaking all-time highs day after day, ESG fund managers face a vacuum in the criteria for judging inclusion.[Smoke rising following the Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on the 2nd (local time) © AFP]There is also strong opposition to including the defense industry in ESG. Like the villains that appeared in ‘Iron Man,’ if the weapons produced by defense companies cause civilian casualties or are supplied to authoritarian regimes, this directly collides with ESG’s ‘Do No Significant Harm’ principle. This war has dispelled the hypothesis that the era of expensive manned fighter jets is over and that the era of low-cost unmanned drones is coming, instead reaffirming the importance of stealth capabilities. While the logic that advanced weapons contribute to minimizing civilian harm could be used as a basis for ESG inclusion, the irony that the victims created by those weapons become the seeds of new threats remains unresolved.Time for Criteria That Squarely Face the Light and Shadow of the Defense IndustryThe securities industry diagnoses that since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, with conflicts expanding through Syria in 2024, Israel in 2025, and Iran in 2026, ‘the defense industry is a representative sector that cuts across the flow of the times.’ Conflicts are not one-off events, and clashes are not stopping. In this situation, the simple binary of excluding defense from ESG investment while including renewable energy no longer works. Just as Tony Stark established new principles after witnessing the damage his weapons had created, the investment industry is now at a point where it needs differentiated criteria that squarely face the light and shadow of the defense industry. Unless a multilayered evaluation system is put in place — encompassing the types of weapons, the human rights level of export destination countries, the presence of technology to minimize civilian harm, and governance transparency — the silence of ESG funds in the face of surging defense stocks can only continue. by Editor N
Amid the fervor of Korean baseball continuing hotly through tomorrow’s quarterfinals at the WBC, the national team produced a scene in their match against Australia on the 9th that captivated even those with no interest in baseball. In the game called the ‘Miracle of Tokyo,’ Korea pulled off a dramatic victory. To advance to the quarterfinals, where only the top two from each group advance, the national team had to meet the demanding conditions of ‘two or fewer runs allowed and a win by at least five runs,’ and they ultimately pulled it off. It was a moment that stirred not only South Korea but all participating nations enjoying the WBC.[2026 WBC National Team Roster Ⓟ KBO Website]Taking a closer look at the WBC, an unfamiliar yet fascinating scene catches the eye. Among the players wearing the Taeguk mark, somewhat exotic-looking faces can be seen. Under WBC rules, a player with at least one parent of Korean descent may compete for the Korean national team. Pitcher Dane Dunning, infielder Shay Whitcomb, and outfielder Jomay Jones — these three are players born and raised in the United States with Korean mothers. This is why they were able to wear the flag of their mother’s country, the Republic of Korea, on their chests and become members of Team Korea.The age spectrum was also broad. The oldest player on this national team is 42-year-old Noh Kyung-eun. Far past the average retirement age for a professional baseball player, he has continued his active career for over 20 years since his debut in 2003. On the same team were also players born in 2005. When starter Son Ju-young was suddenly substituted in the second inning of the Australia game due to elbow pain, it was Noh Kyung-eun who took the mound. Before the game, he had told Son, “I’ll block everything from behind, so just throw comfortably,” and he kept that promise by holding the line for two innings. Twenty-plus years of accumulated experience shone quietly but weightily in a moment of crisis.[Noh Kyung-eun competing in the WBC Ⓟ KBO Instagram]In this way, a team woven from diverse races, ages, and careers was able to respond flexibly even to unexpected variables. It was not through a single flashy ace, but through players of different backgrounds filling the gaps as the situation demanded. The approach taken by manager Ryu Ji-hyun in weaving together different players into one team provided the foundation for that design.The moment when diversity truly demonstrates its power is when an unexpected variable arises. The Miracle of Tokyo Dome showed that with unmistakable clarity. by Editor N