POSCO, the Steadily Built 'Corporate Citizen' Tower

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] "We will build a corporate citizenship practice culture so that employees naturally adopt a sincere attitude of practicing corporate citizenship even in small matters, allowing people to truly feel that 'POSCO has really changed'." POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo stated this during his remarks at the '2020 Corporate Citizenship POSCO Culture Day' held on the 8th.

◇ POSCO Culture Day, Sharing Corporate Citizenship Achievements = 'Corporate Citizenship' is a management philosophy proposed by Chairman Choi upon his inauguration in July 2018. It signifies that POSCO, as a member of society, should pursue not only economic profits but also the value of coexistence. Since his inauguration, Chairman Choi has focused on applying the corporate citizenship management philosophy throughout all management activities to systematize and internalize it. This event was also organized to share and encourage corporate citizenship achievements. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was conducted while observing social distancing and consisted of programs such as special lectures, sharing corporate citizenship research results, social challenges, and talk concerts, with about 10,000 group employees attending online. The special lecture was delivered by former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the theme of 'The Sustainable Future of Corporations and the Direction POSCO Should Take as a Corporate Citizen.' Former Secretary-General Ban emphasized, "POSCO's corporate citizenship initiatives are a step ahead of others and can serve as a great model for corporate management," adding, "The meaning of global citizenship, which coexists and co-prosper with stakeholders in our society based on empathy and consideration, aligns with POSCO's corporate citizenship." Additionally, POSCO unveiled the book 'Corporate Citizenship, Drawing the Future of Management,' which contains the results of research activities on corporate citizenship management conducted across various fields such as management, economics, and sociology. Furthermore, the 'Corporate Citizenship Social Challenge' was held to create more diverse social impacts through partnerships with those who have new ideas.

◇ POSCO Accumulating Corporate Citizenship Achievements = Over the past two and a half years, POSCO has used the management philosophy of corporate citizenship as a compass to carry out various tasks to practice the corporate citizenship ideology, including sharing achievements and nurturing talent with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), supporting youth employment, fostering venture companies, and constructing daycare centers.

Support for SMEs, especially centered on partner companies, has been prominent. POSCO is currently conducting a project to establish smart factories in about 1,000 SMEs. The goal is to support around 1,000 companies by investing 20 billion KRW by 2023. Establishing a foundation for venture startups is also considered a major corporate citizenship achievement. POSCO is investing a total of 200 billion KRW to create incubating centers in Seoul, Pohang, and Gwangyang. The first center opened in Seoul. In July, the 'Change-up Ground,' the first public-private partnership incubating center, was inaugurated on Yeoksam-ro in Seoul. In Pohang, the Change-up Ground is under construction with a total of 7 floors and a gross floor area of 28,000 square meters, scheduled for completion in the first half of 2021. More than 100 companies will be housed there. In addition, an 800 billion KRW venture fund has been established as an investment for future growth engines. Beyond economic aspects, POSCO is also practicing solutions to social issues. This year, it opened a win-win joint workplace daycare center on idle land within the steelworks site, where more than 50% of the children are from partner companies. Moreover, POSCO implements up to six years of telecommuting during childcare for employees with children under eight years old and has established an emergency patient transport system within the company using a corporate helicopter, the first among domestic companies, thereby promoting the corporate citizenship philosophy for its employees.

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