Venture companies and POSCO. At first glance, the connection between the two seems irrelevant, but POSCO’s investment and support for ventures go a long way. In 1997, POSCO established POSTECH Capital (currently POSCO Capital) to foster venture companies, and, as of present, it is striving to find the future growth engine of the company through the venture platform.

ISSUE The foundation of venture startups and its growth is vulnerable

The advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution has caused a rapid shift in the future industrial paradigm, and existing companies are facing challenges of sustainable growth. As a countermeasure, many global companies are strengthening their competitiveness and looking for new business opportunities by investing and cooperating with venture companies.

So, what is the situation of the venture industry like in Korea? As a joke, it is said that in Korea, the best graduates only start a business when they fail to find a job. The issue is not only the lack of capital and resources but the lack of excellent personnel as well. In Korea, the economic structure is centered on large companies hence it is a challenge for venture companies to advance here. Moreover, due to COVID-19, a lot of business owners are facing a hard time, which has also made it hard for entrepreneurs to start new venture businesses.

According to a survey of the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) in 2017, 62% of venture companies in Korea couldn’t survive more than three years, ranking 25th among the 26 OECD member countries. However, if it is possible to create an ecosystem where large companies and venture companies can coexist, the situation will improve. Ventures can be provided with growth opportunities through joint research and testbeds with large companies, and large companies can obtain new growth opportunities and even profits.

The reason why large companies and ventures need to share growth with cooperation could be found here.

And it is also why POSCO is trying to invest in and nurture venture companies with its “Venture Platform,” which incorporates a Venture Valley and a Venture Fund. The POSCO Venture Platform utilizes its unique industry-academia-research infrastructure that includes Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH) and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST).

SOLUTION 1. Come to “POSCO Venture Valley”

To successfully establish a sound venture ecosystem, “startups” should become more active. POSCO has been helping young venture entrepreneurs lay the foundation to grow their businesses through research, investment attraction, and technology sharing through the “Venture Valley”.

When you hear the word ‘venture’ where is the first place that comes to mind? It would probably be Silicon Valley of the U.S. Silicon Valley is a startup cluster and a jungle of entrepreneurs, housing giant technology companies, such as Google, Apple, and Tesla. The objective of POSCO’s Venture Valley is to build the world’s best venture cluster and produce unicorn companies to become Korea’s Silicon Valley.

Other large companies only participate in the investment of ventures, but POSCO aims to create a Venture Valley as well, with its outstanding venture infrastructure. The distinctive feature of POSCO Venture Valley is that it is backed up with the following factors: 1) space for startups in their early stage, 2) POSTECH, which offers exceptional talent, 3) RIST and R&D infra, that support the advancement of technologies and products, and 4) MOU with MSS and the KVCA.

To this end, POSCO decided to invest 200 billion KRW to create “Incubating Centers” for venture companies in Seoul, Pohang, and Gwangyang, and named it “Change-up Ground”. The incubator facilities would change the future of startups and act as a ground to upgrade their business.

In July, POSCO opened “Change Up Ground,” the first public-private partnership in TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup Korea) Town, Seoul. TIPS Town is a Korean version of Silicon Valley that the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) has been constructing in Seoul since 2015. MSS is operating the areas Street S1 to S4, while Gangnam-gu Office runs S5. POSCO became the first private company to cooperate with MSS and opened S6.

Pohang Change Up Ground is under construction on a total floor area of 28,000㎡ with seven floors and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2021, housing more than 100 venture companies. Startup tenants can receive support according to the development phase, from startup training to initial investment. Through corporate specialized consulting and mentoring, the ventures will be prepared with a theoretical and practical foundation and participate in various events, such as the Idea Market Place (IMP) and the Venture Valley Biz-Day, where they can attract investment and advance into the market. Also, through coordination with the venture capital, which supports the Venture Valley, the venture companies can apply for the “TIPS” program, a program to support private investment-led technology startups, which might eventually lead to investment from the government. Ventures that have successfully established their foundation in Pohang and Gwangyang can promote and expand their business into the metropolitan area with a secured base on the Streets of Entrepreneurs established by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in Seoul.

Meanwhile, POSCO launched the “Venture Valley Business Council” in September 2019. The council is to foster youth ventures by communicating with venture companies, incubators, and local governments in Pohang and Gwangyang. To promote technology exchange and benchmarking among ventures, the Venture Valley Business Council will form subcommittees of the three major business areas of POSCO Venture Valley: Materials, Energy, Environment, Bio-pharmaceuticals, and Smart City & Smart Factory. Through this, POSCO plans to provide practical support in creating a venture ecosystem, revitalizing the local economy, and creating jobs for the youth.

With the Venture Valley, POSCO not only utilizes POSTECH’s master’s and doctoral personnel, professors/researchers, but also various startup infrastructure of Pohang in order to build a Korean version of Silicon Valley in Pohang. Therefore, POSCO aims to produce 100 entrepreneurs from POSTECH per year and produce two unicorn companies.

SOLUTION 2. Here Comes the “Venture Fund”

– Investment for POSCO’s future growth also carried out through Venture Fund

Another strategy of POSCO’s Venture Platform is the Venture Fund. While Venture Valley supports in-house and external venture companies to start businesses and grow further with POSCO’s industry-academia-research infrastructure, Venture Fund invests in not only occupying companies of the Venture Valley but also aspiring domestic and overseas ventures to discover new growth engines for POSCO Group. The steel industry is a profound one centered on utilizing heavy equipment, so keeping up with the speed and determination required by the venture sector is challenging. Therefore, the strategy aims to discover new businesses through this kind of open innovation.

Attempts to discover new business ideas and technologies by investing in venture companies aren’t new among large companies in Korea and overseas. On the contrary, it has become an inevitable decision for companies in order to survive the rapidly changing business environment of the 4th Industrial Revolution era. Then, what is the investment strategy of POSCO Venture Fund that sets it aside from other large companies?

POSCO forms and operates various types of funds tailored to the characteristics of each phase of the venture business growth. POSCO’s Venture Fund is differentiated in that it supports the rapid growth of promising venture companies at each stage and executes follow-up investments in outstanding ventures, aligning them to POSCO’s new growth domains.

The investment sector of the fund includes not only new growth domains set by the company but also various promising areas of the 4th Industrial Revolution era. Promising business areas identified in the fund operation process are then included as the company’s new growth domains, which are then sought as new business opportunities to flexibly respond to the rapidly changing business environment. POSCO plans to utilize the Venture Fund investment as a subsidiary means of M&A, and make it a core operating principle to discover the company’s mid- & long-term new growth business and generate investment returns.

Funds for the promising investment field are classified into two, depending on the growth stage of the company: “Seed Fund” is one and the “Growth Fund” is the other. The “Seed Fund” will provide seed funding for newly established ventures that are based on outstanding technologies possessed by university laboratories. For this purpose, in 2019, POSCO created two Seed funds that are operated by POSTECH Holdings and Seoul Techno Holdings, and plans to expand the scope of discovering excellent start-ups of leading domestic universities in their early stages. Recently, POSCO also created the IMP Fund dedicated to supporting selected ventures of the IMP (Idea Market Place) program so that the ventures can receive continuous support for growth after the program.

The “Growth Fund” invests in domestic and overseas venture companies that have entered a rapid growth stage after the venture’s new idea has gone through initial verification in the market. It is operated through collaboration with the best investment operators. As of 2019, there are three domestic Growth Funds operated by SV Investment, Premier Partners, and STIC Ventures, and they are currently being invested in ventures.

Through overseas funds, POSCO plans to read the trends of advanced technology in high-tech and promising fields at an early stage and discover aspiring global ventures based in Silicon Valley. In 2019, “Schroders” was chosen as the investment operator, and the fund was utilized as Fund of Funds to invest in promising overseas ventures. By utilizing the investment operator’s global venture network, POSCO hopes to support overseas investment and entry into the global market, which are essential factors for the quantum jump of domestic venture companies.

Since last year, a total of 95 billion KRW was invested in “Seed” and “Growth” funds investing in these promising fields, and investments will continue in the future as well.

The funds investing in the domain field focus on new growth domains as their main investment field, including the secondary battery material business field, which POSCO is currently pursuing as a new growth engine. In 2019, 50 billion KRW was invested in the “CVC Fund,” and in August 2020, an investment plan of 80 billion KRW was confirmed for the “Strategic Fund,” laying the foundation for investment in the entire growth cycle.

The “CVC Fund,” which is operated by POSCO Capital, is created with POSCO Group funds only and is used to invest in outstanding ventures within the domain. The fund seeks to increase strategic links by partnering with the investment operator from the early stage of the venture. The “Strategic Fund” is a fund investing in venture companies that meet POSCO’s new business strategy and have grown beyond a particular scale. With outstanding external operators, like the “Korea Growth Investment Corporation,” the fund is to be used in expanding the scope of discovering outstanding companies and increasing the scale of investment.

The venture fund is planned to be created based on 800 billion KRW, and the fund strategy will continue to be operated yearly in line with changes in the domestic and global venture investment market and the direction of the group’s new business strategy. In addition, POSCO plans to continue the venture fund in the long-term by utilizing the profits generated from the fund.

Also, POSCO will further enhance cooperation with outstanding domestic investment operators and leading investment institutions, such as KDB Bank, Korea Venture Investment Corporation, and Korea Growth Investment Corporation, that are jointly participating in the existing funds, and strengthen the network with the global venture investment industry.

With these endeavors, POSCO Venture Fund will be able to play a part in the growth of young entrepreneurs, who will become new engines of national competitiveness, while discovering venture companies with potential and nurturing them as new businesses of the company.

※ POSCO Idea Market Place Cases

The Venture Platform is what POSCO has prepared for venture companies that will lead the future with creative ideas and passion! From Venture Funds worth 1 trillion KRW and Venture Valleys to the Idea Market Place for entrepreneurs, POSCO will continue to invest in venture companies to secure new growth engines and revitalize the local economy.

As children grow in height each year, their dreams change year by year as well. What dreams do children have these days?

Last year, the Ministry of Education and Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training surveyed 20,000 elementary, middle, and high school students. The survey showed that the most desired job of elementary school students was an athlete, while middle and high school students wanted to become teachers the most. Among the desired job list of elementary school students, Creator (YouTube, BJ, etc.), which ranked 10th two years ago, rose to third place. Another interesting fact is that beauty designer, cartoonist (webtoon), and baker topped the list of popular jobs.

The fact that children’s dreams change rapidly every year reflects how fast our society is changing. For this reason, vocational education in modern society requires more delicate and detailed plans than ever before. However, universal vocational education for all is challenging in reality. This is especially the case for underprivileged children likely to be in blind spots.

According to a survey of 1,100 elementary, middle, and high schools last year, the teachers in charge of vocational education stated that efforts to consider underprivileged groups, such as multicultural families, were insufficient compared to other factors while establishing the educational plans.

A dream seems something like a vague hope, difficult to have, and more difficult to achieve. It is the responsibility of the older generation to help the future generation specify and realize their vague hopes. Those in an environment vulnerable to fulfilling their dreams need only a little more help than others.

SOLUTION ‘Do Dream’, ‘Chin Chin Rainbow Project’, ‘UNESCO Project for Out-of-school Children’

To ensure that not a single child is excluded from ‘dreaming’, POSCO operates three programs mainly. The first is ‘Do Dream,’ a support program for the independence of children leaving welfare centers. The second is the ‘Chin Chin Rainbow’ project, which provides support for children from multicultural families, and the third is the ‘Out-of-school Children’ project, which offers basic education support for global youths living in harsh conditions.

Do Take Action, Do Dream!

Park, who has lived in a welfare center for a long time, said he suddenly made up his mind while watching his classmates taking exams in their second grade in high school.

“I shouldn’t live like this anymore.”

Although he had always taken the last place in the entire school, he worked hard and was able to enter the Department of Social Welfare at a university he wanted. Park’s dream was to become a social worker.

“I chose the Department of Social Welfare because I wanted to give back as much as I received. Since I was from a completely different background from others, I always worked hard at university as well.”

Park’s grades were good enough to receive a full scholarship, but studying and earning living expenses at the same time wasn’t an easy task. To make matters worse, a friend took advantage of Park’s self-reliance settlement fund, which was given to Park as he left the welfare center. However, Park wasn’t in despair. He took up a part-time job to cover tuition and living expenses, and even went on to graduate school.

Even though Park was more positive than anyone else, a sense of helplessness and despair struck him as hardships in his life continued with no end in sight. Park gave up his dream of becoming a social worker and got a job at a small event company. However, he soon ended up quitting his job and was wandering around. And this was when ‘Do Dream’ lent Park a helping hand.

Around 2,600 children leave welfare centers per year. The National Center for the Rights of the Child carries out various programs with numerous non-profit foundations to support the self-reliance and employment of the children leaving the centers on turning 18, and POSCO’s ‘Do Dream’ is one of these programs.

POSCO 1% Foundation provides up to 10 million KRW per person, including annual education expenses, living expenses, interview preparation fees, and benefits for successful employment, to help the children leaving the welfare centers focus on career development and succeed in finding a job.

POSCO 1% Foundation is a non-profit foundation operated with funds donated — 1% of the monthly pay — by employees and executives of POSCO Group and its partners. The fund is managed as a matching grant, with the company matching employee donations one-to-one.

※ Related Article: POSCO ‘Employees’ Giving Program: “1% Sharing”

While most of the civil support for the independence of children leaving welfare centers are regarding their tuition fees when entering college, POSCO’s program, ‘Do Dream,’ is quite different. The program supports all education that would help in the economic independence of these children, whether or not they go to college. Those preparing to get a job can apply for the program until the age of 26 after leaving welfare centers, and this was the case for Park.

Park decided to realize his dream of becoming a social worker with the support from ‘Do Dream,’ and after submitting several resumes, he finally succeeded in getting a job as a social worker at a welfare center.

“Thanks to Do Dream, I was able to prepare for my job with a comfortable mind, considering only my aptitude and plans. Even after the support ends, I will continue to move further and prepare for the social worker exam as well. Wouldn’t I become a social worker with good influence to change the world then?”

As a measure to help those children leaving welfare centers to not give up on their dreams, POSCO 1% Foundation has expanded the number of recipients from 20 to 35 this year and has also increased 1:1 case management sessions from two to ten times a year. In addition to the support funds, the Foundation carries out other programs that can be of practical help, including special lectures on employment, mentoring, and regional gatherings.

‘Chin Chin Rainbow Project’: For Those From Different Backgrounds

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family operates a variety of youth support policies, including those youths with a migrant background. Under Article 18 of the Youth Welfare Support Act, youths with a migrant background are youths from multicultural families or are North Korean defectors settling in South Korean and require social, cultural adaptation, and language learning support.

POSCO 1% Foundation operates the ‘Chin Chin Rainbow’ program for youths from multicultural and underprivileged families with high growth potential. The program provides vocational education expenses in various fields, such as arts, sports, and IT, and conducts 1:1 mentoring and summer camps. Since 2014, a total of 371 youths have received support, and starting from last year, the number of recipients has been doubled — from the previous 60 — mainly in Pohang and Gwangyang.

Every Child Has the Right to Receive Education – Support Program for Out-of-school Children

POSCO 1% Foundation has been carrying out the ‘UNESCO Project for Out-of-school Children’ since 2018, with a mission to ensure that all children around the world can receive basic education. There are 64 million children worldwide who cannot even go to elementary school due to unavoidable reasons, such as poverty, disability, violence, drugs, child labor, human trafficking, war, and refugees. POSCO is providing basic education and meals, and acting as a refuge for 1,150 Thai and Indonesian children living in these conditions so that they can dream of a new future.

In addition, POSCO 1% Foundation has been operating the ‘1% Art School,’ a program that helps children in Pohang and Gwangyang experience various art activities, and ‘Science Beyond Imagination,’ an experiential science education program. POSCO TJ Park Foundation operates the ‘Vision Scholarship Program’ to relieve the gap of education opportunities in Pohang and Gwanyang, and also a mentoring program for university students, ‘POSCO Dream Camp’.

POSCO’s support for future generations will continue until the day comes of a world everyone and anyone can dream!

ISSUE The localization rate of materials, parts, and equipment in South Korea are in the mid-60%.

Last year, export regulations on semiconductor materials were an issue in South Korea. Voices were raised on the importance of localizing related technologies. Since the materials, parts, and equipment needed for manufacturing weren’t localized enough, the sudden regulations imposed a challenge. Luckily, however, the event did not escalate into a crisis and did not cause as much damage as expected because Korean companies quickly jumped into handling the situation. The large companies of the manufacturing industry had the technology, and SMEs — aka Hidden Champions — supported them. The key was the cooperation between large companies and SMEs.

However, it is known that SMEs in Korea are generally not competitive in technology. According to the 2018 Survey on Korea Federation of SMEs, the technology of Korean SMEs is 1.9 years behind the U.S., 1.8 years behind Japan, and 1.6 years behind Germany, but estimated to be 2.7 years ahead of China. The technology gap with major countries affects the survival of SMEs themselves. However, it is also a threat that can adversely affect the entire industrial ecosystem of Korea, including large companies, in a chain reaction.

As mentioned in [Corporate Citizen POSCO’s SOLUTION Part 2] “Sharing Competitiveness, Sharing Growth,” polarization between large companies and SMEs is deepening, and cooperation is required for the industrial ecosystem.

SMEs need support from large companies, and large companies need the expertise of SMEs. Building an industrial ecosystem where all parties can coexist would be a way to cope with the rapidly changing business environment.

SOLUTION POSCO Presents “Benefit Sharing”

The Korean government is operating a “Benefit Sharing” system as a support program to create an industrial ecosystem where large companies and SMEs coexist. Actually, POSCO had first introduced the “Benefit Sharing” system in Korea in 2004. The system is one of POSCO’s seven major shared growth programs, which is about carrying out improvement tasks together with SMEs and sharing the achieved benefit. This in-house system was acknowledged as a successful business model and has spread to the entire industry.

Through the Benefit Sharing system, SMEs get the opportunity to stabilize supply and increase sales while focusing on technology development. On the other hand, large companies can attain competitiveness, such as improving product quality, through the expertise of SMEs. This has proved to be of advantage to both large companies and SMEs since their coexistence fosters each other’s competitiveness as well. Especially this year, POSCO has branded its shared growth program named “Change Up Together,” and is expanding support for its overall shared growth programs, including the benefit sharing system.

Task Performance Process Any POSCO employee or employee of suppliers is free to propose improvement tasks. The following five stages are carried out in order: Task selection, task performance, task evaluation, performance benefit, and monitoring. The entire process is operated transparently through a specialized system. (See the process of the Benefit Sharing system)

In the early stages of the operation, the concerning department differed from one task to another, making it inefficient to carry out the tasks. However, as of present, a unified department in charge of operation has enabled a one-stop service — from task selection to benefit sharing — eliminating the inconvenience of the past. Also, POSCO is implementing a non-financial model that carries out tasks that are difficult to quantify, such as tasks concerning safety and the environment.

As of last year, POSCO recorded a high localization rate of about 90%, which can be said to be the result of its long-term benefit sharing activities. It is a result achieved by integrating the technology of SMEs into specialized fields that were difficult for POSCO to improve on its own.

Task Evaluation & Benefit Recently, POSCO has upgraded the benefit sharing system by strengthening the benefit for successful tasks. It provides various incentives, such as rewarding 50% of the financial performance in cash or signing a long-term supply right for the solution. It has also sought to reduce the burden of SMEs with a new measure that compensates at least 50% of the task cost even if the task turns out to be inadequate.

In 2019, POSCO carried out a total of 174 tasks and rewarded 42.9 billion KRW for completed tasks. Since introducing the benefit sharing system in 2004, the company has operated 4,916 accumulated number of tasks, and accumulated shared benefits reach 552.8 billion KRW.

Amidst the harsh times triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, POSCO is striving to grow together with its customers, suppliers, and partner companies. The company will expand substantial performance benefits, extend the participation of companies that have no direct business with POSCO, and support channels for growth through joint development and technology sales. As a measure to expand and sustain its achievements, POSCO plans to maximize the shared growth value by applying technologies in similar processes as well.

Expanding the benefit sharing system isn’t a solution for the growth of POSCO, but one for the coexistence of large companies and SMEs in the industrial ecosystem as well. POSCO will continue to expand the benefit sharing system and create opportunities for talented SMEs to grow further.

※ Case Study of the Benefit Sharing System

Here is a couple of the same age who have been married for eight years. On being asked why this couple, who live in Seoul and work in stable large companies, didn’t have any children, they replied that it wasn’t that they didn’t want children — they just couldn’t. The couple managed to buy a house in Seoul (Houses in Seoul are quite expensive) with a loan on getting married, and when they decided to have a child about three years ago, the first problem they faced was “infertility.”

“But even if we do have a child, there’s no one to look after the baby.”

The second problem they will face after giving birth would be “career breaks.” The couple grew up in the provinces and got a job after graduating from college in Seoul. They have no parents or relatives who can take care of their children in Seoul. They leave home for work at 7 a.m. and arrive back home at 7 p.m. Both spend 12 hours out of 24 hours a day outside their house, so if these two have a child, at least one of them must take parental leave.

However, the couple has seen colleagues being assigned to another department or district and pushed out of promotion after parental leave — giving them another reason to hesitate on having children.

“Will I be able to come back to my workplace after parental leave?”

ISSUE ‘Childbirth’ & ‘parenting’ have become an obstacle for the 2040 age group.

The birth rate in Korea is falling rapidly. According to Statistics Korea, the total fertility rate, which is the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime, fell below one for the first time last year, marking the lowest in the world. There is also a prospect that the number of births and deaths will be reversed for the first time this year, with a further drop to 0.8.

It is a known fact that when the working age population decreases and population ageing increases, the burden of younger generations will inevitably expand and result in sluggish economic growth due to reduced consumption. However, for the 2040 age group, childbirth has long been a matter of choice, not a must. As seen in the case of the couple earlier, childbirth is a challenge, even for economically stable families. This is because childbirth and parenting are considered as obstacles in contemporary living conditions, where both having and raising children are difficult tasks. The obstacles not only make it difficult to sustain the current life but rather deteriorate the quality of life, regardless of class and age.

On recognizing this matter, the government’s childbirth control policy is also gradually shifting its paradigm.

*Source: Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy (PCASPP)

In the past, the government-led childbirth control policy targeting low-income families was focalized on simply increasing birthrate and the number of newborns. However, the goal has now been changed to improve the quality of life for 2040 generations.

A society where working parents can give birth to and raise children at ease. Could it be feasible?

SOLUTION A POSCO-type role model focusing on improving the quality of life to resolve the low birthrate issue

1) Introducing the “working-from-home for parenting” system for the first time in Korea

Last year, POSCO presented a POSCO-type role model as one of the six major Corporate Citizenship projects and is currently implementing various policies to promote childbirth according to the life cycle of individuals. In particular, POSCO applied the “working-from-home for child care” system for the first time in Korea to prevent career breaks of working parents and also improve the quality of life of employees by balancing work and life.

POSCO’s ‘working-from-home for parenting system without career breaks’ allows employees with children under the age of eight or 2nd grade of elementary school to apply for full-day (8 hours) or half-day (4 hours) working-from-home, depending on the work conditions. Employees applying for the full-day working-from-home system will have the same working hours — from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — as other employees. Employees applying for the half-day working-from-home system can choose their working hours according to the parenting environment from the following options: 8 to 12, 10 to 15, and 13 to 17. Depending on the number of children, employees can utilize this system for up to six years. POSCO provides the working-from-home employees with the same salary, welfare, and promotion system as those working in the offices.

The system has been under implementation since July 1. A POSCO employee, who applied for this working-from-home system starting on July 13, said, “It took three hours to commute from my mother’s, who takes care of my 14-month-old child. I was beginning to understand why people quit their jobs, and just then, POSCO introduced the working-from-home system, and I applied for it.” She added, “Now that I can concentrate on my child with the time saved from commuting, I think I can play a better role than before.”

POSCO plans to expand the ‘Working-from-home for parenting without career breaks’ to its group companies.

2) A POSCO-type role model: childbirth policy fitting into the life cycle

Since 2017, POSCO has already been operating a POSCO-type childbirth policy, that covers all phases of the life cycle from marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting.

In particular, POSCO allows a maximum of 10 days leave for infertility treatment, which is the primary factor of low birthrate and provides up to 1 million KRW (per session) as support for expenses that are offered a maximum of 10 times.

POSCO employees will also receive maternity benefits: 2 million for the firstborn and 5 million KRW for the second. Once the employees’ maternity leave ends, they automatically go into paternity leave, which can be used up to three years, without a separate application procedure. Also, employees can freely adjust working types and hours according to the parenting environment of each individual, utilizing various systems, such as the system of working reduced hours during the child-rearing period and the system of flexible working hours.

3) Opening Workplace Childcare Center

POSCO operates 15 workplace childcare centers for employees’ children in Pohang, Gwangyang, Seoul, and the metropolitan area, two of which are workplace shared childcare centers. Among the total number of children enrolled in the two childcare centers, the proportion of SMEs’ children — including partner companies — amounts to over 50%. Established as a measure to resolve the low birth rate issue, the two childcare centers are constructed one each in Pohang and Gwangyang respectively and have been under operation from earlier this year.

▲ POSCO workplace childcare centers: POSCO Dongchon Childcare Center in Pohang (left); POSCO Geumdang Childcare Center in Gwangyang (right)

POSCO Dongchon Childcare Center is located right next to POSCO’s headquarters in Pohang. It is equipped with an indoor garden that features a nature-friendly interior space filled with exotic plants, such as lemon and banana trees. On the other hand, POSCO Geumdang Childcare Center in Gwangyang is designed to allow children to play freely in various outdoor playgrounds. Located in the housing complex, it is within walking distances from nearby facilities like marts, movie theaters, libraries, and parks.

The POSCO Seoul Childcare Center, located in POSCO Center, Seoul, can accommodate up to 200 children. In addition to this, POSCO recently renovated its second childcare center in Seoul and opened it so that not only POSCO but also children of partners and residents can be enrolled.

Since 2011, POSCO has been certified as an excellent family-friendly company every year by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and last year, 17 POSCO Group companies received certification. POSCO’s efforts to become a ‘childbirth-friendly company’ with innovative childbirth support activities continue this year as well. The company shared various case studies on the issue of the declining birthrate and provided a forum for spreading social discussions. At the ‘2020 Low Birthrate Symposium’ held at POSCO Center on July 14, POSCO shared the various efforts that it had implemented so far to present a role model and resolve the low birthrate issue. The company also discussed the role of corporates in creating quality jobs that can support the parenting of employees amid the Demographic Cliff crisis.

Here is an artwork titled “Hide and Seek Red.” One additional information is that the painter of this artwork is someone with an autistic developmental disorder.

“How could he create such an artwork when he has a disability?”

If this was the first question to pop out of your mind, you might be looking at this artwork with the perception that this is an artwork by a “disabled person,” rather than perceiving it as a work of art as it is.

ISSUE Disability artists face challenges to overcome the barriers of perception and the lack of opportunity.

Artists with disabilities carry on their journeys in life, surpassing the challenges of their bodies. However, they still encounter another high wall to overcome — the “matter of perception.” Many people perceive artworks and artistic activities of disability artists as “arts done by disabled persons,” rather than just “arts.”

Arts done by disabled persons is a term defining the act of artistic creation or expression from someone with physical or mental disabilities. Simply put, the term focuses on the disabilities of the performers instead of the activities themselves. Considering the disabilities of the artists before appreciating the artwork for itself, is the wall of perception that many disability artists face.
※ “Hide and Seek Red” depicts a character covering his eyes with one arm and his friends who are hiding, revealing only their faces. According to the artist’s mother, the artist didn’t have many close friends in his childhood. Then who are the friends hidden in the painting?

Another high wall blocking artists with disabilities is the problem of “opportunity.”

Let’s look into the fifth comprehensive policy plan for people with disabilities, issued by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2018.

The first to third policy plan (1998~2012) for people with disabilities was mainly about ensuring the equality and rights of the disabled persons. The fourth and fifth (2013~2022) policy plan focuses on relieving the gap between the lives of disabled and non-disabled persons. For this purpose, they include details that assert the importance of providing disabled persons with opportunities in education, culture, and sports sectors.

In reality, many disability artists have difficulties attracting the public’s attention, despite their artistic talents, since they lack opportunities to receive proper education or showcase their artworks. According to the <2018 Examination and Research of the Current Condition of Arts and Culture of Disabled Artists>, about 41 percent of disability artists responded that there weren’t enough opportunities to present their artistic activities. The figure is twice higher than the 20 percent of respondents who said, “It’s enough”.

Not only this, disability artists are struggling with publicity as well.

When asked if works of disability artists needed more publicity, more than 85 percent said it was “necessary,” with half of them deeming publicity “very necessary.” Despite such a dire need for promotion, the survey revealed that more than 60 percent of disability artists don’t have accounts for online artistic activities, such as YouTube, blogs, and other SNS channels. Only three out of ten respondents said that they actually engage in online activities.

Amidst the unsolved challenges of perception and lack of opportunities, a new variable has emerged in our lives today — the Era of New Normal. Will the gap between disability artists and non-disabled artists be narrowed in our reality where untact has become the new normal?

SOLUTION Collaboration + Art = CollaboArtion

POSCO 1% Foundation, a non-profit foundation operated with donations — 1% of the monthly pay — from executives and employees of POSCO Group and its partner companies, has devised a new project this year to support disability artists. The project has two objectives: improving the perception of disability artists is one, and putting disability artists on the map with genuine content and influential channels is another. Thus, the new project of POSCO 1% Foundation, “CollaboArtion,” was born.

The “CollaboArtion” project undertakes two programs. The first is providing opportunities where disability artists can communicate with the public through collaboration videos with celebrities. The second is creating personal storytelling videos of disability artists and promoting their artistic talents, which would present them with better opportunities to participate in artistic activities.

In Britain, where disability arts are well-established, there is a term called “inclusive arts.” It is a form of art where disability artists and non-disabled artists collaborate creatively and interactively. The “CollaboArtion” project is also an inclusive art, providing both disability and non-disabled artists with opportunities to improve their artistic level through unbiased and unrestricted artistic activities and collaborations.

POSCO 1% Foundation invited ten teams of disabled artists with recommendations from the Korea Disabled Artist Association: Boo-Yeol Han (western-style painter, developmental disorder), Hun Lee (one-handed pianist, brain lesion disorder), Hwan Park (western-style painter, visual impairment), Sung-Jin Cho (one-handed magician, brain lesion disorder), Yong-Ho Heo (children’s book author, general paralysis), Moon-Jung Choi & Soo-Min Chae (wheelchair dancers, physical disability), A-Ra Ko (ballerina, auditory disorder), Yae-Na Choi (Pansori, visual impairment), Ji-Yeon Kim (rapper, auditory disorder), and Min-Ju Kim (web novel author, brain lesion disorder).

Each team will create two video contents — one original collaboration video and one impressive storytelling video — with 14 celebrities, including designer Hyeong-Cheol Jan, singer Min-Kyung Kang, and YouTube star Big Marvel. All videos are produced by a professional MCN (Multi-Channel Network) company ‘Treasure Hunter.’ The contents will be released on “POSCO TV, ” POSCO’s YouTube channel, as well as the channels of the influencers.

The first collaboration video featuring Boo-Yeol Han, a drawing artist, designer Hyeong-Cheol Jang, and YouTube star Korea Grandma Mak-Rye Park was uploaded on June 25. Boo-Yeol Han is the painter of the artwork “Hide and Seek Red” seen above and the first Korean autistic live drawing artist. The video features Korea Grandma Mak-Rye Park wearing an outfit, designed by Hyeong-Cheol Jang with the artwork of Boo-Yeol Han. The video, uploaded on POSCO TV, gives a glimpse of the life and works of the artist Boo-Yeol Han. Han’s story is delivered directly from him and his mother, presenting the viewers with deep emotions. Starting with Han’s video, POSCO TV will post these very special videos one by one until October.

Last weekend at the Beautiful Mint Life Festival 2019, an annual eco-themed music festival at its tenth year, POSCO’s #SteelSaveEarth campaign continued the company’s endeavour to promote sustainability.

At POSCO’s campaign booth, shined the banner ‘#SteelSaveEarth With POSCO,’ through which the company spread messages to help curb single-use plastics and raise awareness on steel sustainability.

From initial planning and campaign execution to the final wrap up, POSCO University Student Brand Ambassador who understands their own generations better than anyone else, spearheaded the campaign activity at the Festival. The Ambassadors came up with original ideas like “Bottle Challenge,” “Steel Play Zone,” and “#SteelSaveEarth Green Photo Zone” to familiarize the public with the somewhat-distant material, steel.

Aware of the massive volume of plastic wastes produced at festivals, the Bottle Challenge program organized plastic-to-stainless-steel travel mugs activity – visitors brought plastic garbages they’ve collected at the festival in exchange for a brand new stainless steel travel mug. The program also informed the public on the proper ways of disposing plastics and raised awareness on steel as plastic alternative.

The Steel Play Zone sought to embrace visitors across generations by installing see-saw merry-go-around made of steel. Using scrap steel, visitors also had the chance to make floral tiaras and had their pictures taken at the photo booth, also made of steel.

POSCO will carry the initiative forward to promote steel sustainability and eco-friendly practices. Through obtaining official certifications like Environmental Product Declaration, the company will ensure their products are environmentally sustainable and will also roll out plans to keep their steel mills greener.

POSCO America created commemorative plaques to honor and thank Korean War Veterans for their services to the Republic of Korea.

On April 12, an “Ambassador for Peace Medal” ceremony was held at the Atlanta Veterans Medical Center, under the auspices of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Atlanta and Georgia Department of Veterans Service. POSCO America participated in the ceremony as one of the corporate sponsors.

The United States deployed about 1.79 million soldiers to the Korean War in which 140,000 casualties occurred for the American soldiers. Across the United States, 1.47 million veterans survive to this day – about 35,000 veterans in the state of Georgia alone. Since 1975, Korea has been honoring the veterans and the bereaved families with the “Apostle of Peace” medal.

The ceremony commemorates the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. POSCO America created and delivered a total of 90 commemorative plaques to the veterans and their families including the 58 that were presented on this day.

▲ On April 12, POSCO America (headed by Kwang-Soo Kim) delivered memorial plaques to the Korean War veterans. All plaques carry the message, “We will always remember our hero.”

On the reasons for creating the memorial plaques, POSCO America cited a story from Mr. Norman F. Board who is serving as the Georgia branch president for the Korean War Veterans Association. He said, “Korean war is a ‘Forgotten War.’ So many American soldiers lost lives in the War, and yet, the attention it gets is nowhere near to that of World War II or the Vietnam War. Now, most of us are well into our nineties – many of us are already gone. I’m afraid we’ll be obliterated entirely from this generation.”

It was Mr. Board’s story that got POSCO America up and running to create the plaques for the veterans of the ‘Forgotten War.’ On the plaque, the company engraved the message, “We will always remember our hero” along with the period of the Korean War, which dates from 1950 to 1953. The plaque was created with POSCO’s permanent stainless steel, and POSCO C&C’s PosART inkjet printing skill was also applied.

Commissioner Mike Roby of the Georgia Department of Veterans Service remarked in the ceremony: “The creation of the plaques is our generation’s determination to remember the Korean War and those who fought in it. It honors the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for Korea and their country. My deepest gratitude goes to POSCO for reminding us of the need to recognize the veterans’ services to the country.”

Earlier this month, POSCO America participated in the regular meeting of the Korean War veterans as part of their companion volunteering activity. Last December, the company also visited the Fisher House (The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center Fisher House ) that provides temporary lodging for family members of veterans and military service members. The company donated 21 new TVs and participated in various community services.

To fulfill its due responsibility as a corporate citizen, POSCO America will continue the community outreach and develop sustainable relationships with the veterans.

▲ Mr. Norman F. Board and his wife, Mrs. Joan Board. After hearing Mr. Board’s story, POSCO America set to work to create memorial plaques for the Korean War veterans.

▲ Mr. Urban Rump of the Korean War Veterans Association and his wife Mrs. Carol Rump with the commemorative plaque on the porch.

▲ Mr. Edward Ginter, one of the recipients of the memorial plaques, and his wife, Mrs. Cecilia Ginter. POSCO America delivered a total of 90 memorial plaques to the Korean War veterans and their families.