Handok announced on June 30, 2023 that it has joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) as part of its sustainability management.

UNGC is the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative launched by the United Nations and involves more than 20,000 companies in over 160 countries around the world. It encourages companies to internalize 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption into their operations and business strategies to promote sustainability and corporate citizenship.

Handok has been leading the way in sustainability management based on its management philosophy to grow with integrity as a company. In 2020, it received the highest score among domestic listed companies in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) assessment conducted by Who’s Good in recognition of its early internalization and continued practice of sustainable management.

Handok’s sustainability management is based on transparency and ethics to create a healthy governance structure, a win-win philosophy to create a healthy society, and eco-friendly management to create a healthy environment. Ethics and transparency are internalized through the company’s core values and management philosophy and are practiced across the board, including in its corporate culture, business processes, and communications. In addition, it established the Handok Medico-Pharma Museum, the first corporate and specialized museum in Korea, in 1964 to collect, preserve, and exhibit medical artifacts, and cooperates with Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province, where its production plant is located, in industrial tourism activities to revitalize the region. Having declared environmentally friendly management as a goal in 1997, it was designated the first “green” company in the pharmaceutical industry in 2000 and has been the longest certified. In recent years, a sustainability management team, a task force, and a dedicated organization led by the board of directors and management have comprised the Handok ESG governance system to further refine and implement sustainability management.