POSCO Energy Signs MOU with Incheon City to Prevent Bridge Jumping Suicides

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO Energy signed a "Memorandum of Understanding for Improving Suicide Risk Environments such as Bridge Jumping Accidents and Advancing National Renewable Energy Projects" on the 15th at Incheon City Hall, attended by Jeong Ki-seop, President of POSCO Energy, Park Nam-chun, Mayor of Incheon, and others.

This project originated from an excellent idea submitted during last year's "Idea Contest for Practicing Corporate Citizenship Management Philosophy Based on Business," conducted for POSCO Energy employees. In February, POSCO Energy proposed to Incheon City the installation of solar power generation facility-integrated safety railings to prevent suicides by jumping from bridges along the Gyeongin Ara Waterway, and Incheon City agreed with the good intention and decided to proceed.

As of the end of April this year, there have been a total of 158 bridge-jumping suicide incidents along the Gyeongin Ara Waterway, resulting in the tragic deaths of 29 people. Among them, 11 people (38%) died at Sicheon Bridge, highlighting the need to improve suicide risk environments.

Through this agreement, POSCO Energy will replace the existing railing of Sicheon Bridge on the Gyeongin Ara Waterway (H=1.2m) with a solar power generation facility-integrated safety railing (H=2.5m, L=125m) to prevent suicide by jumping. Additionally, the electricity generated will be fed back into the bridge's power facilities, enabling simultaneous suicide prevention and energy regeneration.

President Jeong Ki-seop stated, "We will continue to discover and actively implement corporate citizenship management philosophy activities that can create social value simultaneously by utilizing our business."

Meanwhile, along with this agreement, POSCO Energy plans to collect various opinions through cooperation with Incheon City and related organizations to improve the suicide risk environment of the Gyeongin Ara Waterway bridges and complete the installation of solar power facilities and safety railings by the end of this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.