The UN's multi-stakeholder forum for corporate responsibility has appointed a convicted Korean accounting fraudster to its board.

Chey Tae-won, who happens to head up Korea's SK Corporation and is one of Korea's richest people, served just three months of a three year prison sentence and was pardoned with 73 other convicted business leaders last year. These pardons aimed "to overcome the serious economic difficulty and ensure that investment can be made and many jobs created."

George Kell, who runs the UNGC, put a brave face on the appointment when questioned at a meeting held for the release of the Compact's annual report, suggesting that the Compact - far from a reserve of angels - is a place where people are encouraged to learn from their mistakes.

Having once been convicted, the onus is surely on Chey to prove that he is doing so. Is he? Even before his pardon last year he was advocating for deregulation o enhance competitiveness. This week, however, his firm announced a major deal with unions (unions are not known to be soft in Korea) whereby union members promised not to vote for a pay rise until the economy was stronger, and the company promised not to make anyone redundant by compulsion.

One joker commented at the Compact meeting that Bernie Madoff might make a good board member on the same criteria. Chey Tae-won has much to prove if the UN Global Compact is to ever become more than everyone's favorite letterhead logo.