Chart: Norway wealth fund's Korean stock exclusions since 2006
Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, Government Pension Fund Global, recently decided to exclude Korea Gas Corporation due to the risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict.
The main issue is the company's business collaboration with the state-owned oil company Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in the Shwe gas field offshore Myanmar.
In February 2021, the armed forces in Myanmar staged a coup d’état, after which “the military has intensified its extremely serious abuses of civilians”, the fund’s Council on Ethics stated in April.
Korea Gas Corporation “provides the armed forces with substantial revenue streams that can finance military operations and abuses" through its activities in Myanmar, the SWF said.
The wealth fund, the world’s biggest, places great emphasis on being a responsible investor in its strategy plan for 2023-2025, issued earlier this year.
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ESG-related concerns have led the fund to drop large and well-known companies such as Airbus, Lockheed Martin and Glencore in recent years.
Since 2006, the fund has excluded or raised concerns about 11 companies out of Korea’s more than 2,500 companies listed on the Korea Stock Exchange.
Norges Bank Invemstment Management, the manager of Government Pension Fund Global, did not respond to AsianInvestor’s inquiries on the exclusions.