Gwangyang Steelworks Manager Seongtae Joseong Recognized as an Exemplary Figure for Dedicated Service in Child Safety

‘12th Children’s Safety Awards’ Minister of the Interior and Safety Award Winner

Started Traffic Safety Volunteering in 2013 to Establish Advanced Traffic Culture

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik] Seongtae Jo, Manager of the Safety and Disaster Prevention Group at POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks, was honored with the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award at the ‘12th Children’s Safety Awards’ ceremony held on the 19th at the Government Sejong Convention Center in Sejong City, recognizing his contributions to preventing traffic accidents involving children.

The Children’s Safety Awards have been held since 2011 to raise community awareness about children’s safety, discover and spread excellent policies of local governments, and commend individual dedication.

Manager Jo was selected for a special award at the ceremony, which is divided into four main awards involving city, county, and district participation and three special awards for the general public (individuals or groups), due to his exemplary volunteer work related to children’s safety.

Having continued volunteer activities since 1993, he began traffic safety volunteering in 2013 with the desire to establish an advanced traffic culture in the local community.

In 2019, together with about 70 employees of Gwangyang Steelworks, he founded the Traffic Talent Volunteer Group, conducting traffic safety campaigns such as △obeying stop lines △following traffic signals △preventing speeding, and contributed to spreading traffic culture by signing an MOU for traffic safety guidance volunteer activities with local elementary schools.

He and the members of the Traffic Talent Volunteer Group currently provide traffic safety education at four elementary schools and 18 local children’s centers.

In particular, the ‘Visiting Children’s Safety Education’ program, which uses VR devices and virtual reality technology to make traffic safety easily accessible to children, has received great response at elementary schools in the district.

Moreover, despite his busy work life, he has worked to improve his educational capabilities by obtaining a Level 2 Traffic Safety Instructor certificate and a Safety Education Specialist certificate, and was appointed as a Safety Security Officer by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in 2019 to provide professional education to children.

Seongtae Jo, Manager of the Safety and Disaster Prevention Group at Gwangyang Steelworks, said, “This award was possible thanks to the support of my family, colleagues who shared the same will, and POSCO as a corporate citizen that generously supports volunteering,” adding, “I will continue to work responsibly to create a community safe from traffic hazards.”

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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