SEOUL -- Most of South Korea's 30 major companies lack awareness about human rights, coming far short of international standards, the country's rights watchdog said Thursday.
   
According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRC), its analysis of the reports on corporate sustainability management published by 19 out of the country's top 30 corporations based on sales as of 2010 showed that a large share of them failed to meet international standards in dealing with labor and human rights issues.
   
Some 18 out of the 19 firms, except GS Caltex Co., South Korea's second-largest refiner, failed to incorporate clauses on the protection of human rights in their investment deals, while 14 companies did not include issues of the infringement of local people's rights by their overseas businesses, the report showed.
   
Though the companies are supposed to make efforts to prevent possible rights violation cases and to check if such incidents take place, 13 firms including Samsung Electronics Co., Kia Motors and Shinhan Bank did not even mention the issues in their reports, with five others such as SK Innovation and POSCO being far from satisfactory in dealing with them. South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. was the sole entity that elaborated on such
efforts, the NHRC said.
   
The analysis was based on the international guidelines for writing such reports -- the Global Reporting Initiative and the International Organization for Standardization.
   
"Though the companies were active in promoting traditional labor and rights issues such as banning discriminatory practices at workplaces and child labor, they are not well aware of a more comprehensive and advanced concept of human rights in line with international norms," said an NHRC official.
   
"Companies need to broaden their perspectives in viewing the matter while doing business to care not only for their employees and customers but citizens who seem unlikely to have direct links to the firms but could be affected by their practices in different forms," he added.
   
Pointing to the fact that corporations have been trying rights-based management in real terms by pursuing sustainable management and launching diverse social contribution programs, the commission called on the government to come up with measures that would both encourage the companies to value human rights and punish those who violate relevant rules. (Yonhap news)