South Korea Financial Services Commission mandates same-day industrial accident disclosures and moves to expand periodic reporting and ESG rating expectations

The South Korea Financial Services Commission has approved amendments to the Korea Exchange’s disclosure rules to require listed companies to promptly disclose industrial accidents, aiming to improve management of financial risks linked to such events. Alongside the market disclosure change, it introduced a proposal to strengthen annual and semi-annual reporting on industrial accidents, while ESG rating institutions updated their rating guidance to more systematically reflect industrial accidents in ESG assessments. Under the revised Korea Exchange rules, listed companies must file a Korea Exchange disclosure on the same day they report an industrial accident to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and must also disclose on the same day a court decision becomes available involving a violation of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act; these disclosure requirements take effect from October 20. ESG rating institutions’ updated guidance takes effect from October 1, shifting industrial accidents from a voluntary, non-binding consideration to an incorporated assessment factor, with the Korea Exchange set to regularly compare and assess compliance with the updated guidance. The proposed periodic reporting change would require companies to include information on the occurrence of industrial accidents and response measures in annual and semi-annual business reports. The periodic reporting proposal is subject to a 40-day public comment period running from October 1 to November 10 and will then proceed through further approvals before taking effect in January 2026.