[Sponsored Report] Posco makes headway on its CSR objectives

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[Sponsored Report] Posco makes headway on its CSR objectives

Published: 29 Dec. 2015, 20:03

Posco employees watch a kayagum performance during Posco’s Small Concert for Our Heroes event. A kayagum is a traditional Korean 12-stringed instrument. [POSCO]

The Posco 1% Foundation started in 2013 with a donation amounting to 1 percent of the wages of all of Posco’s employees and subcontractors. The foundation is currently in charge of organizing the steel conglomerate’s activities pertaining to corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Earlier this year, Posco outlined three objectives to work toward throughout the year: to improve social welfare for the unprivileged, to support the financial independence of local communities in and outside the country and to promote culture and the arts.

Among the activities coordinated under these objectives, the most significant were the Steel House welfare facilities, the Posco village in Vietnam and the Small Concert for Our Heroes.

A domestic leader in the steel industry, Posco is building Steel Houses tailored to the needs of each local community. In January 2013, the Happy Steel House was built to serve as an institution for low-income seniors in Pohang, North Gyeongsang.

A year later, Posco built the Happy Steel Welfare Center for the visually impaired in Gwangyang, South Jeolla, which provides IT education and consulting programs through sign-language interpreters.

The most recent Steel House, the Gangbuk Dream Center in Seoul, supports teenagers having trouble with their families or in school. The company plans to build more Steel House establishments for the local community in collaboration with local governments and architects.

The Posco Village in Vietnam is situated in Vung Tau, where Posco’s Vietnam office operates. The project was planned under an initiative to provide lodging to low-income families in the region and aims to build a total of 85 residences by 2016.

Posco’s global volunteer team composed of employees and Beyond, a volunteer camp organized by the company of college students from South Korea and Vietnam, frequently visit the construction site to lend a helping hand.

The Small Concert for Our Heroes is a concert for workers involved in manufacturing.

The concert is intended as an expression of the company’s gratitude, as few of the workers have the means to attend such performances.

The event, posted on YouTube, garnered a positive public response.

The third Small Concert for Our Heroes took place on Oct. 28 in Somang Park at the Sihwa Industrial Complex in Seoul.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]