EcoPro to establish $77.5 million foundation for rural development

EcoPro founder Lee Dong-chae speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony of the company's cathode plant in Hungary in April. [ECOPRO]

EcoPro is injecting 100 billion won ($77.5 million) to establish a public foundation to support cultural and artistic education in rural areas.

That amount will eventually jump to 500 billion won, the Korean battery materials company announced last week.

EcoPro is currently taking the legal steps necessary to launch the foundation, and its establishment will be finalized by the end of March.

The foundation will work to improve arts and culture infrastructure in provincial areas and hopes to expand to education in the future. More specific details related to the methods of support will be released in the first half of next year.

“First starting business in regional areas, EcoPro has now grew to the world's largest high-nickel cathode maker,” the company said in a statement. “Former chairman Lee Dong-chae has long been seeking ways to prevent the decline of the population in provincial regions and form a foundation to support the infrastructure of regional cultural and art education.”

It also hopes to fund startups that are working on sustainable battery ecosystems, and is reviewing mechanisms for doing so.

EcoPro, which is headquartered in Ochang, North Chungcheong, has poured some 1 trillion won into the region to build manufacturing plants.

EcoPro has also invested some 2 trillion won to build factories that produce and recycle cathode and precursor materials in Pohang, North Gyeongsang. Cathode is one of four materials critical in making EV batteries and makes up 40 percent of a battery's cost.

It has also announced plans to invest an additional 2.5 trillion won in the establishment of a second Pohang manufacturing plant by the end of 2025.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]