Choi Tae-won: "Draw the 'Financial Story' as a Comic"... SK Innovation Busy with Net Zero

SK Inno, SK Geocentric, and SK E&S 3 Companies
Embed Eco-Friendly Storytelling in Animation
Strengthen 'Carbon to Green' Strategy

Screen capture of SK Innovation's eco-friendly animation 'Haengko'. Photo by YouTube channel 'Haengbokhan Kokiri Haengko'

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] SK Innovation is accelerating the execution of the ‘Financial Story,’ the management philosophy of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. To transform from an oil refining and chemical company image into an ‘eco-friendly energy & materials company,’ they incorporated eco-friendly storytelling into animation. Through this, SK Innovation plans to strengthen its ‘Carbon to Green’ strategy.

According to industry sources on the 6th, three major energy companies of SK Group, including SK Innovation, SK E&S, and SK Geocentric, recently released animations featuring eco-friendly storytelling simultaneously. The common theme is ‘Net Zero’ (zero net carbon emissions).

SK Innovation released an animation on YouTube featuring ‘Haengko,’ the professional soccer team mascot elephant originally created by its predecessor Yukong in 1982, reinterpreted in a modern way as the main character. The concept is a ‘carbon-eating elephant.’ Haengko, who was hit by a ball at a soccer stadium 40 years ago and woke up this year, receives a mission to ‘revive the Earth’s environment’ to return to the past, using its long trunk to absorb carbon such as exhaust fumes.

This video, released in August, surpassed 3.48 million views in about two months. Although planned and produced by SK Innovation, the YouTube channel name (Happy Elephant Haengko) does not include ‘SK.’ The video also does not emphasize ‘SK’ but highlights only the ‘eco-friendly’ image.

SK Geocentric, a comprehensive petrochemical specialist affiliate, released an animation featuring a girl character named ‘Geo’ about waste plastic, and SK E&S, the nation’s top LNG company, unveiled the animation ‘Hydrogen Legend ? The Story of Hydrogen Passed Down Like a Legend.’ SK E&S is the most proactive affiliate in pursuing hydrogen business within the group, planning to invest 18 trillion won by 2025 solely in hydrogen projects.

The simultaneous launch of animation promotions by oil refining and chemical affiliates, which belong to high carbon-emission industries, has drawn attention from the industrial sector. The efforts of SK Innovation and its affiliates to express eco-friendly storytelling through cartoons are seen as aligned with Chairman Chey’s emphasized ‘Financial Story.’ Chairman Chey has called for strengthening social value and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management and stated that a Financial Story, including early promotion of ‘Net Zero,’ must be created to gain trust from market stakeholders.

SK Innovation was the first affiliate to announce a Net Zero vision after Chairman Chey’s mention of the Financial Story. In July last year, Kim Jun, Vice Chairman of SK Innovation, announced ‘Carbon to Green,’ shifting the business focus from carbon to green, in line with the Financial Story strategy at the ‘Story Day’ meeting of all executives.

An SK Innovation official said, “We are making various efforts to communicate eco-friendly visions like Net Zero more familiarly to the public and to lead them to participate in the path toward eco-friendliness. The eco-friendly animation is one part of these efforts.”

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, is delivering the closing speech at the '2021 CEO Seminar' held last October at the SKMS Research Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by SK Group

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