On January 9th last week, POSCO won the Grand Prize for the newly created “Herald’s Top Award in Job Creation” in the category of “New Industry Vocation.” The award ceremony, which took place at the Korea Chamber of Commerce, aims to recognize the commercial industry’s various efforts to create jobs during the current climate of the tough job market.

▲ POSCO, the first recipient of the newly created award by MOTIE. Pictured above: the Minister Yun-Mo Sung (left) and POSCO representative Sung-Hee Han, the Head of Management Support Division

Among the attendees were several leaders from both government and private sectors such as Mok-Hee Lee (Vice Chairman, National Commission on Job Creation), Jae-Kap Lee (Minister of Employment and Labor), and Yun-Mo Sung (Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy).

POSCO has been recognized for its exceptional effort in boosting employment in future-oriented fields like the Internet (IoT), artificial intelligence, and Big Data all geared towards smartizing operations in the fields and the offices. By creating high-quality jobs, POSCO managed the workforce in a way that corresponds with the government policy.

In the congratulatory address, the Vice Chairman Mok-Hee Lee remarked, “In 2019, the government is due to provide a progress report on the current employment situations in Korea. The Commission will implement government policies that lead to actual job creation and continue our endeavor to establish creative employment policy.” Vice Chairman Lee further pledged full-on government support via reforms in finance, tax, and public sector regulations.

Trade Minister Yun-Mo Sung who also acknowledged how the growth and investment from corporate sectors can enhance job creation, promised his utmost support for the industry’s effort to create more jobs.

Besides POSCO, Hanwha Advanced Materials, SK Innovation, Samsung Electronics, KEB Hana Bank, CJ Freshway and Hyundai Motor were among the recipients in different categories.

To create quality jobs, the POSCO Group is striving to maintain a sound management system, reassess the company’s competitiveness by developing new business and technology. The company also supports job seekers through such programs as Corporate Practical Employment Education, AI-Big Data Academy, and Incubating School for Business Startups.

For the job seekers in Pohang and Gwangyang areas where their factories are located, POSCO supports partner companies by connecting them with talented jobs seekers. The company also offers practical support by hiring 250 graduates of vocational schools like Meister School through ‘School-Employer Connection.’ The company also offered 41% of its non-regular workers regular employment.

In line with the Group’s mid-long-term investment plan worth 45 trillion KRW (40.2 billion USD), POSCO plans to recruit 20,000 new employees by 2023 in the fields of steel, materials, and energy.

More than 290 people attended the presentation ceremony, including Ohjoon Kwon, chairman of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation; Chang-hee Kang, former chairman of the National Assembly; Hong-goo Lee and Deok-soo Han, former prime ministers of Korea; Gong-il Sa, chairman of the Institute for Global Economics; Nak-in Sung, president of Seoul National University; and prize winners from previous years.

Ohjoon Kwon, POSCO CEO and chairman of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation, said, “For the past 10 years, the POSCO TJ Park Prize has been a way to recognize those who tackle the never-ending challenges of today’s world. In the next 10 years, we aim to make the POSCO TJ Park Prize an even more noteworthy honor.”

This year, the POSCO TJ Park Prize was awarded to the following honorees:

• Excellence in Science: Prof. Jong-heun Lee, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Korea University
• Excellence in Education: Attached Middle School at Kyungpook National University
• Excellence in Community Development & Philanthropy: Jimmy Pham of Vietnam, CEO of KOTO
• Excellence in Technology: Myeong-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute at LG Chem.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon (far right) stands with recipients of the POSCO TJ Park Prize. The award recognized their noteworthy achievements in science, education, community development, and technology.

The Excellence in Technology award was added this year to highlight how technology has contributed to the renewal of the Korean economy. Eligible candidates for this category include persons or organizations that contributed to national and global market development.

Prof. Jong-heun Lee of Korea University, winner of the TJ Park Science prize, was honored for his work on the oxide nano hierarchical structure in which nano building blocks are regularly self-assembled, and the p-type oxide semiconductor, which has a high level of catalytic activity that allows for gases to be detected quickly and selectively. His achievements are expected to be widely utilized in various areas such as safety, environment, medical science, and IoT.

Kyungpook National University Attached Middle School, winner of the Excellence in Education prize, was awarded for its model of creative public education. Unlike a typical learning environment, the middle school introduced project-based learning in 2012, which allowed students to switch roles with teachers and also collaborate with one another on a deeper level.

Jimmy Pham, winner of the Excellence in Community Development and Philanthropy prize, established KOTO (Know One, Teach One), the first social enterprise in Vietnam. For 17 years, the organization has been giving at-risk youth a chance to stand on their own by teaching various life-skill classes.

Myung-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute at LG Chem, received the foundation’s very first Excellence in Technology prize. Kim began to oversee battery R&D in 1996 when the secondary battery business was first starting to become active. Through much trial and error and over 20 years of experience in the field, Kim successfully developed the first lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles. He is considered to have greatly contributed to making Korea a leader in the secondary battery industry.

Chang-hee Kang, former chairman of the National Assembly, delivered a congratulatory address, saying, “I would like to thank POSCO for contributing not only to the development of science and technology, but also for actively recognizing scholars and citizens who made a great impact in their respective fields.”

Don’t miss any of the exciting stories from The Steel Wire – subscribe via email today. 

The event was sponsored by the CSR Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Science – China’s most authoritative CSR evaluation agency. They evaluate corporate social responsibility and social contribution activities, releasing a corporate public interest development index and a CSR development index each year.

In addition, on January 6, POSCO China picked up the Educational Public Service Medal from the Chinese Enterprise Development Institute, the largest public interest group in China. A total of 31 domestic and international companies were selected as winners including Panasonic, Intel, and LG. POSCO was given the award in recognition for its affiliates’ scholarship programs and contribution to the preservation of traditional cultures in China.

With news of these awards, POSCO remains more committed than ever to working with the communities near its plants and offices in China. POSCO China plans to be even more active with CSR activities in 2017.

Don’t miss any of the exciting stories from The Steel Wire – subscribe via email today.

Presented by The Korea Herald, Korean Association for Social Contents Development, the Korea SNS Award seeks to acknowledge companies and institutions that are actively and effectively communicating with customers via social media. This marks the third year that POSCO has been recognized as a Grand Prize winner, as POSCO was awarded the title previously in 2013 and 2014. This year’s win is especially meaningful, as POSCO’s effort to create various content about steel using its blog and Facebook page was recognized.

Last month, POSCO was also honored for its social media activities by the International Business Awards (IBA). The program is operated under the Stevie Awards, the world’s premier business awards, which were established in 2002 to honor and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organizations and working professionals worldwide.

POSCO submitted entries for the SNS category for the first time and received the Bronze Prize Stevie Award in two categories: “Metals & Mining” and “Best Blog.”

POSCO launched its corporate social media channels in 2012 to soften the rigid image of steel and engage the public in an approachable manner while strengthening corporate competitiveness. POSCO is committed to open communication through its corporate blog and Facebook page by sharing the company’s major management activities and interesting content about steel.

As a result, POSCO’s blog is visited by approximately 180,000 people per month, an unusually high visitor count for a B2B blog, while POSCO’s Facebook channel is consistently growing, with over 260,000 fans. Additionally, the company recently relaunched its global blog to enhance POSCO’s image as a global brand and leader of the steel industry.