Korea Climbs from 8th to 5th in ACGA Asian Corporate Governance Rankings
Korea rose to fifth place among 12 Asia-Pacific countries in the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA)'s corporate governance assessment.
The Financial Services Commission said on November 4 that the ACGA had announced Korea's corporate governance ranking. Korea climbed three places from its previous position of eighth to fifth.
The ACGA visits each country under review every year to assess progress in improving its corporate governance system. Government agencies, including the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Justice, and related organizations held four meetings with the ACGA between March 2025 and September 2026. During the meetings, they explained the achievements of institutional reforms by the Korean government and National Assembly, including amendments to the Commercial Act, and their commitment to improving corporate governance. In September 2026, the ACGA also sent a public letter of appreciation, highly commending the reform efforts of the Korean government and National Assembly.
The assessment is considered significant because it reflected how past achievements had led not only to institutional improvements but also to changes in the behavior of Korean listed companies. Indeed, the score for listed companies rose by 10.7 points from the previous assessment.
From January through September 2026, Korean listed companies retired 90.9 trillion won worth of treasury shares, following the third amendment to the Commercial Act, which made treasury-share cancellations mandatory. This was more than four times the total retired in 2025, which amounted to 21.4 trillion won. Dividends have also continued to rise, from 37.4 trillion won in 2023 to 41 trillion won in 2024 and 56 trillion won in 2025.
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A Financial Services Commission official said, "The Korean government will not rest on the results of this assessment. It will continue efforts to improve laws and regulations to protect shareholder rights, and pursue corporate governance reforms, including the Corporate Value-Up Program and the institutionalization of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosures."
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