(1) Reinforcement of business ethics by international organizations
   OECD's Convention on Combating Bribery
    - Influences all enterprises due to its severe penalty against corruption in       international transactions
    - Led to enactment of Korea's own "Foreign Bribery Prevention Act in International       Business Transactions" in 1999
   Other organizations to battle against corruption
    - World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Bank Group reinforcing member
      countries to battle against corruption

(2) Business ethics as competitive edge

   The higher the ethical standard, the higher the brand equity
    - Higher standard of business ethics leading to better brand image
    - Positive enterprise image yielding better profitability and employee turnover
   The highest ethical standard with the best practices
    - Only leading organizations are capable of setting higher ethical standard
    - The stringent ethical conduct, combined with the best practices, sets the highly       respected enterprises apart from rest of good enterprises

2. Domestic Environment

(1) Demand for reform since 1997 financial crisis
   Severe loss resulting from unethical business practices witnessed
   Foreign investors raising doubts about transparency of domestic enterprises

(2) Legal reinforcement against corruption and unethical practices
  "Foreign Bribery Prevention Act in International Business Transactions"
     enacted in 1999
  "Anti-Corruption Law" enacted in 2001
   Growing adoption of "Integrity Pact" by public sector
   "Compliance officer system" and "Internal Control System" mandatorily
     required for all financial institutes

(3) Strengthening business ethics to become globally respected enterprises
   Disappointing results of Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in succeeding years
   Business ethics and social responsibility : Core elements for domestic
    enterprises to become globally respected
   Need for business ethics: More than 97% of Korean enterprises answered
    "necessary" in recent survey

(4) National consensus on promoting business ethics reached among stakeholders
   Code of ethics slowly adopted by leading domestic enterprises
   Academia in leading role to promote business ethics
   - Korea Business Ethics Society founded by leading scholars
   - Growing number of business schools offering courses on business ethics
   NGO's demanding improvement of transparency and corporate governance
   Need for changing fundamentals of society, such as standard business practices,     felt urgently by constituents of this society
   Nation in unity to fight against corruption and to promote ethics in
    every part of the nation