[One Day One Thousand Characters] Woo-ung Hwan, CEO of Korea Venture Investment, "I am the Chief Health Officer"

Check Achievement of 12,000 Steps Twice a Week
Delivering Essential Items to Vulnerable Groups through Step Donations

"We are waiting for employees who want to achieve health and fun at the same time."

In June, a notice about the "Health Fund" was posted on the internal bulletin board of Korea Venture Investment. True to its role as a global mother fund management specialist, it detailed the formation period, management contents, and dividend conditions just like an actual fund. The formation periods are scheduled for three one-month sessions within the year: June 12 to July 10, September 4 to October 2, and October 9 to November 6. The fund is created by collecting participation fees (50,000 KRW) from applicants, and after one month, the total fund amount will be evenly distributed to those who achieve the target. The method of verification is through a step-counting application that confirms whether participants have reached 12,000 steps three times a week.

Photo by Korea Venture Investment

Korea Venture Investment’s “walking culture” does not stop at the Health Fund. From August 23 to September 22, 44 employees participated in a step donation campaign, achieving a total of 10.1 million steps. This is part of social contribution activities linked to the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategic direction. Participants exceeded the target of 5 million steps by more than double. Through this, they plan to deliver necessary supplies to socially vulnerable groups such as at-risk youth.

This walking campaign was born thanks to the ideas of the staff and the decisiveness of CEO Woo-Whan Yoo. Celebrating his first anniversary on August 22, CEO Yoo refers to himself as the Chief Health Officer (CHO) to emphasize his care for employees’ health. This is also related to the “2030 Vision Framework” announced in July. Korea Venture Investment has set three strategic directions: “Activation of sustainable venture investment virtuous cycle,” “Leading social responsibility,” and “Practicing ESG management and improving management efficiency.”

Average daily steps over the past week of Woo-Whan Yoo, CEO of Korea Venture Investment
[Photo by Woo-Whan Yoo, CEO of Korea Venture Investment]

In a phone interview with Asia Economy, CEO Yoo explained, “The work at Korea Venture Investment itself is very stressful, and recently the workload has surged, so it’s hard to work without physical stamina,” adding, “If you lose your health, you lose everything, so it’s about making an effort to enjoy it while maintaining physical strength.”

CEO Yoo also participates directly in the Health Fund to encourage employees. Since it is difficult to reach 12,000 steps three times a week just by daily walking, he walks along Tancheon Stream near his home with his family after work. Recently, he recorded an average of 10,299 steps per day over a week. CEO Yoo said, “I think about how to improve things for members in terms of work, workplace roles, and colleagues. The atmosphere for proactive work seems to have been created, so I thought about what to improve next and chose health.”

CEO Woonghwan Yoo and the volunteer group of Korea Venture Investment in action
[Photo by Korea Venture Investment]

Employees participating in the walking campaign gather to check who walked how much and their rankings through the app, which has increased camaraderie. One employee shared, “Taking care of my health and walking through the campaign makes me enjoy work more,” adding, “Overall, it’s good because we compete and become closer.”

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