cs.CLOct 15, 2026
SaveESG-Kor: A Korean Dataset for ESG-related Information Extraction and Practical Use Cases
Organizations: Department of Data Science, Hanyang University, South Korea
Abstract
With the expansion of pre-trained language model usage in recent years, the importance of datasets for performing tasks in specialized domains has significantly increased. Therefore, we have built a Korean dataset called ESG-Kor to automatically extract Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information, which has recently gained importance. ESG-Kor is a dataset consisting of a total of 118,946 sentences that extracted information on each ESG component from Korean companies' sustainability reports and manually labeled it according to objective rules provided by ESG evaluation agencies. To verify the effectiveness and applicability of the ESG-Kor dataset, classification performance was confirmed using several Korean pre-trained language models, and significant performance was obtained. Additionally, by extending the ESG classification model to documents of small and medium enterprises and extracting information based on ESG key issues and in-depth analysis, we demonstrated potential and practical use cases in the ESG field.
Figures & tables
Figure 1: ESG-Kor construction process. Phase 0: Collect sustainability reports data and undergo preprocessing. Phase 1: Extract only the text from the preprocessed data, and proceed with labeling through annotators equipped with ESG-relevant knowledge. Phase 2: For the data quality, go through a verification process, and sentences of low quality are deleted. The example of the sustainability report on the left side of the figure is from the 2014 sustainability report published by Samsung Electronics.
| Sector | Company | Number of | Number of |
| reports | sentences | ||
| Automobile | Hyundai motor company | 17 | 15,154 |
| KIA corporation | 14 | 9,921 | |
| Aviation | Korean airlines | 17 | 7,022 |
| Asiana airlines | 8 | 2,302 | |
| Electronics | Samsung electronics | 14 | 12,491 |
Table 1: Sustainability reports data
| Class | Sentences |
|---|---|
| E | We consider the environmental impact of new products during their whole development cycle. |
| S | The company also has created open communication channels to maintain strong relationships with suppliers. |
| G | Manages a website that offers information on ethical business management and provides an external reporting mechanism since 2002. |
| R | Analyzing the social and environmental impact of their manufacturing process and communicate the company’s efforts with major suppliers in a transparent manner - something the company hopes to accomplish through sustainability reporting. |
| I | The company has also introduced a new focus on the business to business (B2B) market, going beyond the business-to-consumer (B2C) market |
Table 2: Examples of labeled sentences
| Class | Automobile | Aviation | Electronics | Finance | Heavy industry | Steel industy | IT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | 5,783 | 1,727 | 4,511 | 2,228 | 1,779 | 3,701 | 60 | 19,789 |
| S | 8,466 | 3,946 | 9,033 | 12,578 | 5,693 | 5,802 | 264 | 45,782 |
| G | 896 | 463 | 1,928 | 3,014 | 751 | 1,690 | 77 | 8,819 |
| R | 972 | 825 | 337 | 1,566 | 957 | 996 | 51 | 5,704 |
| I | 8,958 | 2,363 | 7,789 | 8,355 | 4,429 | 6,697 | 261 | 38,852 |
| Total | 25,075 | 9,324 | 23,598 | 27,741 | 13,609 | 18,886 | 713 | 118,946 |
Table 3: Number of sentences by class and sector
| Task | Model | Automobile | Aviation | Electronics | Finance | Heavy industry | Steel industry | ESG-Kor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four-class classification | KoBERT | 84.16 | 91.62 | 82.68 | 87.03 | 90.60 | 85.84 | 84.70 |
| DistilKoBERT | 83.53 | 90.75 | 81.98 | 86.33 | 90.64 | 85.33 | 84.19 | |
| KB-ALBERT | 83.88 | 91.15 | 82.28 | 86.57 | 91.17 | 84.69 | 84.59 | |
| KLUE-RoBERTa-base | 8 4.35 | 9 2.16 | 8 2.97 | 8 7.83 | 9 1.43 | 8 6.14 | 8 5.27 | |
| KLUE-RoBERTa-large | 84.59 | 92.64 | 83.82 | 88.28 | 91.56 | 87.30 | 85.87 | |
| Binary classification | KoBERT | 84.70 | 91.42 | 84.57 | 8 8.71 | 90.95 | 8 5.88 | 86.11 |
Table 4: Classification accuracy (%) by sector and model
Figure 2: Class distribution of classes by sector
Figure 3: Distribution of token length
| Number of data | Accuracy | ||
| Relevant | Irrelevant | ||
| SME’s binary classification | 254 | 149 | 86.72% |
Table 5: Classification results for SME’s
| Issues | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change | 4.9 | |
| Environmental | Natural Capital | 4.6 |
| Pollution & Waste | 4.7 | |
| Env. opportunities | 4.8 | |
| Human Capital | 4.8 | |
| Social | Product Liability | 4.5 |
Table 6: The results of human evaluation. The evaluation scale is set as follows: 1 point = Not included, 2 points = Barely included, 3 points = Partially included, 4 points = Mostly included, and 5 points = Fully included.
Appendix figures & tables5 assets
Supplementary material from the paper’s appendix.
Appendix
| Model | Number of | 4-class | 2-class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameters | Elapsed Time (s) | Elapsed Time (s) | |
| KoBERT | 92M | 2812 | 2944 |
| DistilKoBERT | 28M | 809 | 839 |
| KB-ALBERT | 9M | 1409 | 1424 |
| KLUE-RoBERTa | 111M | 3133 | 3286 |
| KLUE-RoBERTa-large | 337M | 9492 | 9965 |
Table A.1: Model parameters and elapsed time for experiments
| Issue | ||
|---|---|---|
| Climate Change | Carbon Emissions Product Carbon Footprint Financing Environmental Impact Climate Change Vulnerability | |
| Environmental | Natural Capital | Water Stress Biodiversity & Land Use Raw Material Sourcing |
| Pollution & Waste | Toxic Emissions & Waste Packaging Material & Waste Electronic Waste | |
| Env. opportunities | Clean Tech Green Building Renewable Energy | |
| Human Capital | Labor Management Health & Safe Human Capital Development Supply Chain Labor Standards | |
| Social | Product Liability | Product safety & Quality Consumer Financial Protection Privacy & Data Security Responsible Investment Chemical safety |
Table A.2: MSCI’s ESG key issues
| Question | Do the following sentences include issues such as Natural Capital (Water Stress / Biodiversity & Land Use / Raw Material Sourcing)? |
|---|---|
| Extracted sentences | • The necessary water is obtained on construction sites through surface water, groundwater, and tap water. • The impacts on the ecosystem surrounding the construction site, including biodiversity, are scientifically analyzed and incorporated into the biodiversity management strategy’s planning and implementation process. • Green purchasing involves buying products that contribute to resource savings and reduce environmental pollution compared to other products, services, or raw materials for the same use. • Additionally, purchasing materials directly on-site reduces costs, enhances cost competitiveness, and increases the sales of local partners. • A large amount of the water used at the site is for spraying to reduce fugitive dust, managing water usage and wastewater treatment. • Environmentally friendly water use has become significant as the global water shortage intensifies, alongside energy, highlighting the reduction of water consumption in building operations. • Rainwater utilization systems are applied to save water consumed during building operations by actively using rainwater for landscaping purposes. • From the construction planning stage, the impacts on the ecosystem surrounding the construction site are scientifically analyzed to preserve biodiversity as much as possible and minimize changes in topography and vegetation damage by applying appropriate design and construction methods. • On construction sites, water consumption is reduced by using rainwater storage facilities, groundwater dewatering systems, and sprinklers instead of water tank trucks for dust control. • Additionally, the application of middle water recycling systems that recycle domestic sewage and rainwater utilization systems is being expanded on-site, and facilities that purify river water, seawater, and groundwater for environmentally friendly use are being established to optimize water resource usage. |
| Inclusion level | Not included Barely included Partially included Mostly included Fully included |
Table A.3: Example of an evaluation template for the environmental domain for human evaluation
| Question | Do the following sentences include issues such as Human Capital (Labor Management / Health & Safe / Human Capital Development / Supply Chain Labor Standard)? |
|---|---|
| Extracted sentences | • Additionally, we are developing experts by establishing an advanced talent development system through the eHRD (Human Resource Development) system. • Continuous talent cultivation is necessary for sustained growth, requiring the nurturing of excellent personnel. • The labor union discusses system improvements, productivity enhancement, welfare, and working environment improvements through the labor-management council. • By establishing safety and health policies aimed at instilling a safety culture through education and improving worker welfare, we regularly track and manage risks related to occupational health and safety, providing employees with a safe working environment. • Based on this, we include environmental, labor, and health and safety standards as special conditions in supplier selection contracts, making them mandatory for all contracts. • To this end, we are implementing talent development strategies, presenting a vision for personal growth, and supporting the development of global competencies. • Additionally, we conduct leadership training and operate global advanced study programs to develop our employees into global leaders. • We are expanding investments in employee competency development, striving to cultivate multifaceted talents with rich creativity and imagination, beyond simple problem-solving abilities. • Hyundai Engineering & Construction is making continuous efforts for talent development through domestic and international training programs and in-house online education. • We plan to strengthen immediately applicable training programs, such as CPD (Continuing Professional Development) for engineers, competency enhancement courses for site managers, and leadership training for those promoted, while also expanding education for employees’ spouses and children. |
| Inclusion level | Not included Barely included Partially included Mostly included Fully included |
Table A.4: Example of an evaluation template for the social domain for human evaluation
| Question | Do the following sentences include issues such as Corporate Behavior (Business Ethics / Tax Transparency)? |
|---|---|
| Extracted sentences | • Practicing ethical management is not a choice but a necessity for a company’s sustainable growth. • Hyundai Engineering & Construction maintains an open, honest, and positive relationship with tax authorities, faithfully pays taxes annually according to each country’s policies, and is committed to transparently disclosing all tax-related matters. • We are devoting our entire capabilities to realizing the values of sustainable management, such as transparent ethical management, environmentally friendly business operations, win-win development with partners, and fulfilling social responsibilities. • Expanding the scope of application, Hyundai Engineering & Construction practices ethical management together with stakeholders related to its business. • Hyundai Engineering & Construction maintains an open, honest, and positive relationship with tax authorities, including the National Tax Service, and faithfully pays taxes annually according to each country’s tax policies. • Hyundai Engineering & Construction is leading the establishment of an ethical corporate culture not only among its employees but also among its affiliates, partners, and business associates. • All employees and partners of Hyundai Engineering & Construction share and internalize the company’s comprehensive ethical management system, practicing the code of ethics that reflects long-term corporate value. • As a responsible corporate citizen, Hyundai Engineering & Construction strives to become a respected company among stakeholders through ethical business activities and fair trade compliance. • Through this, the company has demonstrated its strong commitment to not only ethical management but also fulfilling its social responsibilities. • The global market, where top-tier companies compete, is our stage of activity. |
| Inclusion level | Not included Barely included Partially included Mostly included Fully included |
Table A.5: Example of an evaluation template for the governance domain for human evaluation
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