POSCO-Vietnam is taking the lead in Sustainable low-carbon management with INNOVILT products, the Sustainable steel products for construction. Let’s have a look at Pumi in Vietnam, where the PosMAC Barrier is installed to supply air and moisture to the soil and prevent the uplift of the roots of roadside trees.

▲Commemorative photo taken before the construction of the PosMAC Barrier on the street in front of the Government Complex in Pumi.

POSCO-Vietnam donated the PosMAC Barrier, an INNOVILT certified product, to the local government of Pumi on July 21st. PosMAC Barrier is a roadside tree guard made of PosMAC, highly corrosion-resistant steel, that continuously supplies air and moisture to the soil and prevents plant roots from uplifting which can destroy sidewalk blocks. In other words, it stores rainwater and retains moisture in the soil to help the roots grow well.

But why was PosMAC Barrier installed in Vietnam? On the soil of Vietnam, a tropical region, plants such as roadside trees are difficult to grow well. The average annual precipitation in Vietnam is 1500~2000mm, which is higher than the average annual precipitation of 1200mm in Korea last year, but there are distinct dry and rainy seasons. In the rainy season, 80-90% of the annual precipitation is concentrated, but in the dry season, it is too dry that the ground is even cracked. Also, due to the high temperature, there is inevitably less moisture in the soil and plants. In particular, the soil organic matter is rapidly decomposed in the center of the city due to high temperature so the organic matter in the soil is far insufficient.

Recently, the Vietnamese government has been actively implementing Sustainable policies such as declaring carbon neutrality. POSCO-Vietnam has begun to look for INNOVILT products suitable for Vietnam’s climate characteristics to respond to environmental issues which are global issues. In Vietnam, due to the poor soil, the growth condition of trees is not good. Also, the destruction of urban infrastructure can be seen everywhere due to severe root uplift. PosMAC Barrier was an essential product for roadside trees in Vietnam as it can store rainwater as a water supply block to keep the soil moist and help the roots grow well. In addition, it was the most suitable product for the current situation as it provides an optimal growth environment for roadside trees and prevents urban heat island.

The government of Pumi, where POSCO-Vietnam is located, also showed high interest in Sustainable policies. “We will actively consider introducing PosMAC Barrier to the roadside tree maintenance project in Pumi City,” said the chairman of the People’s Committee.

▲ Posmac Barrier article published in Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Vietnam

The local media also introduced PosMAC Barrier as an Sustainable product that can fundamentally help the growth of roadside trees in the city. It mentioned that the upper body of the product exposed to the outside is PosMAC, high-strength, high-corrosion-resistant steel of POSCO and covered in detail about the water tank for collecting rainwater, the EPP filter that guards off foreign body, and the pipe that supplies stored water to the soil and the roots.

Despite the truckers’ strike in June, POSCO worked with INNOVILT Alliance MYSTECH Co., Ltd., POSCO International Steel Sheet Group, and POSCO-Vietnam to export PosMAC Barrier products to POSCO- Vietnam in the shortest period of time. MYSTECH Co., Ltd., the supplier of PosMAC Barrier, was able to create the first successful overseas export case with the help of POSCO and POSCO International.

In addition to donating to the local government of Pumi, POSCO-Vietnam plans to install PosMAC Barriers around the dormitories in POSCO-Vietnam to protect urban infrastructure and respond to climate change. Using this Sustainable solution as a model, we hope that Sustainable INNOVILT products will be used not only in Vietnam but also in other regions of the world.

Today, the POSCO Newsroom tells a touching story of a very special frame of Korean War veterans presented to their families in commemoration of the veterans at POSCO-America.

Chris Truelove accidentally found a Greybeards magazine that delivers news about Korean War veterans while looking for the things his father left because he missed his father who passed away in December 2019.

The magazine contained an article stating that a Korean company called POSCO visited the graves of Korean War veterans and produced and delivered appreciation plaques to the bereaved families. Upon reading this article, Mr. Truelove was able to find more information by using an internet search to learn more about POSCO, which said that POSCO-America located in Georgia, has been steadily honoring and thanking Korean War veterans for their noble sacrifice since 2019. Mr. Truelove immediately called POSCO to thank them.

During the phone call, he blamed himself, saying, “I knew that my father was a Korean War veteran, but I think I was too indifferent about that fact.” Mr. Truelove continued to talk in a tearful voice, expressed regret, and said, “I think my father would have loved it if he had received POSCO’s appreciation plaque when he was alive.” Upon hearing his heartbreaking story, POSCO-America came up with a plan to make a special frame that is the only one in the world, featuring the Korean War veteran’s life.

In the end, POSCO-America received a photo of the father from Mr. Truelove, made a frame, and delivered a very special gift to him. Mr. Truelove received the frame and responded, “I am very grateful for this glorious gift.”

Mr. Truelove suggested that he would like to present this meaningful gift to other veterans living in the same area and POSCO-America was moved by Mr. Truelove’s great heart to deliver to others the joy his father could not have felt during his lifetime, POSCO-America took pictures of veterans in the area where he lives and donated a frame.

The Korean War Veterans Association, which is located near Mr. Truelove’s residence, had not been able to hold a meeting since the association’s president passed away a few years ago. Thanks to the special time prepared by POSCO, they spent time looking at each other and happily sharing their updates for the first time in a long time. POSCO also gave a frame of the president’s photo in his lifetime and the wife of the president, who missed her deceased husband cried as she remembered the day she took a picture of her husband smiling brightly in the frame.

POSCO-America selected 100 Korean War veterans, mainly from Georgia, Alabama, Washington D.C., and New York, where their offices are located, and produced additional frames. Most of them were veterans over the age of ninety, so there were many difficulties in delivering the frames but POSCO-America continued the precious meeting by visiting each veteran in person and taking pictures one by one.

Salvatore Scarlato, president of the Korean War Veterans Association in New York, was very impressed that POSCO, a Korean company, promoted this special meeting to commemorate them for their hard work even after 72 years of the Korean War. “The U.S. fought a total of 12 wars, and 8 of them have served for other countries, but Korea is the only country still expressing gratitude,” he praised.

In another area, Alabama, unfortunate news was delivered that Carl Cooper, a 101 years old reserve colonel, passed away two weeks before the donation ceremony while the frame was being made. The news was heard through Carl Cooper’s nephew, Danny Cooper, “My uncle had high expectations for the donation ceremony to the extent that he put on his uniform again and took a picture when he heard that the frame will be made to remember him,” he said, sharing his sadness. Danny Cooper, who received the frame on behalf of his uncle, expressed his gratitude to POSCO, saying that he would like to include photos and information related to the donation ceremony in his uncle’s autobiography.

A meaningful time was also prepared for the veterans at the Fisher House (located in Augusta, GA), which has a close relationship with POSCO-America. In 2020, during the early stages of the spread of COVID-19, POSCO-America tried to hold a donation ceremony at the Veterans Affair Medical Center but encountered difficulties because visits were prohibited. To solve this problem, POSCO-America prepared a video visit system and held a non-face-to-face donation ceremony, and until now, it is still being used as a useful link for family members who have not been able to keep their deathbed due to the prohibition of visits at the Veterans Affair Medical Center.

In addition, after POSCO-America contacted ‘Burley Smith’ and ‘Merl Smith’, who were the only surviving crew members of the ‘SS Meredith Victory’ of the Heungnam evacuation, POSCO-America could meet Burley Smith and his wife Barbara Hacker and heard in detail the miraculous operation they carried out for the refugees after overcoming the harsh cold at the time.

Mr. Smith said, “We were able to successfully complete the operation thanks to the Koreans who did not lose hope and kept order calmly hope in the tragic Korean War.” He continued, “It was a pleasant time for me to continue my precious relationship with Korea through this meeting with POSCO.”

The touching journey that POSCO-America began with a man’s phone call has made it possible to establish a strong bond with the veterans and their bereaved families. POSCO hopes that the picture frame of the veterans will be remembered for a lifetime as an unforgettable memory for the family who will miss them.

Thailand is a representative tourism giant of Southeast Asia. The country has a beautiful natural environment represented by Phuket and Chiang Mai and cultural heritage and has been loved by tourists from all over the world thanks to its night markets and spectacular performances in Bangkok and Pattaya. However, due to COVID-19 that came without notice, there have been unimaginable changes in the landscape of Thailand where previously was overcrowded with tourists.

As the country controlled the entry to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the tourist business of the country that accounted for most of Thailand’s GDP has collapsed, and people who lost their jobs in Bangkok returned to rural areas. As such, stores and famous places in downtown Bangkok that were overcrowded with tourists closed doors and only dark shadows and silence linger now in the streets that were lit up with colorful lights until late at night.

The morning of Thailand, a Buddhist country starts with the parade of monks who go out into the streets or villages and obtain foods for ‘mendicancy and offering’.  The long parade of monks holding a begging bowl barefoot is not much different from before, but you can easily see them wearing masks and even face shields due to COVID-19. As there are not many open stores compared to before, the merchandisers who make an offering also have reduced a lot. However, the eagerness of those who make an offering wishing the recovery from COVID-19 is closer to our hearts.

COVID-19 has brought about lots of changes to the daily life of Thailand people.  As the Thai government proclaimed a state of emergency to prevent the spread of the pandemic and took lockdown measures in major cities, public facilities except for convenience stores/supermarkets and drug stores, restaurants and department stores stopped their operation, and thanks to that, delivery services, such as Grab, Lineman, and Food Panda, has benefited a lot.

Another change is that Thailand people have started to show their hidden cooking skills. Thailand has a tropical climate, and thus tropical nights continue for a long time throughout the year. Moreover, as the foods sold in markets and restaurants are various and low-priced, Thailand people rarely cook at home unless there is a special occasion.  However, as buying food became difficult due to the lockdown measures and social distancing, more and more Thai employees cook and take a packed lunch to this branch office. Before COVID-19, the company cafeteria was noisy, with employees seated together and having meals and coffee during lunchtime. However, eating packed lunch alone at their seat became common at some point.

As tourism suffered a heavy blow due to COVID-19, the overall economic situation of Thailand became more difficult. However, business conditions have greatly improved as automotive and home appliance industries recovered, POSCO-TCS operated stably, and aggressive marketing campaigns were executed.  POSCO-TCS practices a variety of corporate citizen activities, hoping that the steel market condition and the entire economy of Thailand has recovered and thus Thailand people take smile back. POSCO-TCS leads saving regional farmhouses and environment improvement by making fertilizers with sludge generated during the manufacturing process, which was an idea of its employees, and supplying them to regional farmhouses. Also, it delivered masks, protective clothes, and lunch boxes to the medical staff at the forefront of COVID-19. And recently, POSCO employees in Thailand donated goods, including food with donation money from 1% Sharing for flood victims in Thailand.

As we all know, PZSS(POSCO Zhangjiagang Stainless Steel) was the first whole processing steel making factory in the POSCO Group that established the model of global POSCO abroad. Meanwhile, PZSS has had a similar success story as the headquarters. There were almost no STS mills in China, no technology, no equipment, and no engineers. POSCO built and opened up the STS mill market in China and has led the development of high quality and high technology until now. POSCO created a success story and will go on to be a centennial company.

We have been committed to develop communication between Korean leaders and local employees from the start of PZSS. The most important tool is language. Learning a foreign language not only benefits communication between each other, but also the understanding of both. We tried various ways to improve interest in learning. Hiring Korean teachers to teach, organizing Korean study groups, holding Korean song competitions etc. The enthusiasm for language learning was high and remained so, and also became a tradition in organization culture.

With the rapid growth of company, the number of employees increased. To inherit the culture and go together in the same direction, communication should be enhanced. On the other hand, we needed more POSCO global leaders to take responsibility for business management, and localization cannot but be vital in this period.

Following the change of society developing and considering the new generation, learning styles should be changed.

Firstly, we developed the PZSS Korean language test system by ourselves. For self-development and to grow as an elite staff as a member of the POSCO Group, the need to learn the Korean language is obvious. It is not only a method of working, but also helps to understand Korean culture. Another thought is to supply a convenient way for employees who wanted to take part in a Korean language test. Is it possible to develop an internal test system to test ourselves? What we did have were dozens of exam papers from past years downloaded from the internet. If we can randomly combine all the questions in a new paper, their Korean language level can be tested.

After communicating with the IT department, a new system to develop PJT began. A training group collected as many exam papers as possible, and converted and input all the questions in an editable mode. IT group wrote programs and made phrased tested. We set up three easy/middle/difficult question pools, and when you start the test, the system automatically selects questions from each pool in a certain proportion so that the level of each paper is similar.

There were some unexpected situations, such as having no record when papers were provided together, but after all efforts, the internal test system officially went online. After doing the first test, some colleagues said it was more difficult than an outside test, and some said that the question font color was unclear. Of course we will keep the difficulty, but the font color will change to be more warm and clear. Actually, nothing is a problem when you try. This system has been used in an annual promotion program, and in particular played a very important role during the COVID-19 period.

Secondly, for localization, we set the Korean middle level as the necessary promotion condition for Chinese group leaders, since group leaders are responsible for plan execution and play the role of a bridge between superiors and subordinates. They have many opportunities to meet with Korean staff or headquarters leaders, so it is necessary for them to have basic listening and speaking ability. If they fail to pass the middle level of Korean, the promotion will be delayed or cancelled. Due to busy routine work, some leaders couldn’t join the after-lunch class on time, so to not fail the test, they found private teachers to study after work. It seems that promotion is the strongest motivation for learning Korean.

Thirdly, a Korean study club continued to be operated by the establishment. Recently, Administration Vice President Park Jung-kun joined this club as a host, and all the members studied very hard. It felt really different when they practiced with only Korean required in the Wechat group. One day a member asked to leave and wrote a sentence in the chat group, but no one understood. One member sent him a private message to ask the meaning, then found he used the wrong grammar. A foreign language is learned only through constant practice.

To intensify the communication culture for all employees, a training group put a pronunciation lecture on the PZSS website and Wechat public account. Even shift workers can learn Korean whenever and wherever they want.

Although we developed a test system and supplied various ways to learn the Korean language, the most important way for communication is sharing feelings. How about developing another emotional test system？ It sounds funny and significant!

With COVID-19 sweeping the world, we can’t travel freely. We hope it will end soon and POSCO’s global employees can go Korea to experience the native culture.

The POSCO Group won the Golden Champion award at the “Bisnis Indonesia Corporate Social Responsibility Awards (BISRA)” event held on April 22, co-hosted by Bisnis Indonesia and Habitat Indonesia, based on its ongoing CSR efforts.

Based on its management philosophy ‘Corporate Citizenship: Building a Better Future Together’, the POSCO Group in Indonesia has been committed to creating and practicing the values of fairness, transparency and ethics, and taking a step further for social progress in all management activities and day-to-day operations.

As for the social progress aspect, the POSCO Group in Indonesia has strived to contribute to addressing social issues with empathy, develop local communities, and participate in philanthropy. Among its many social contribution efforts, POSCO’s conviction and determination in nurturing Indonesia’s next generation of leaders is worth noting. The POSCO Group has carefully designed and implemented various CSR programs that helped improve the academic infrastructure of not only the Cilegon area where POSCO operates an integrated steel mill together with PT Krakatau Steel (persero) Tbk., but also throughout Indonesia, which in turn has touched the lives of hundreds of young people in Indonesia.

For example, the POSCO Group in Cilegon has helped local schools improve their infrastructure and sanitation facilities with the “Dream School – for Your Dream” program. In this program, the employees of POSCO’s joint venture company, PT Krakatau POSCO, volunteered for painting, building fences, and cleaning, among other things, and have made donations to provide new desks and chairs for local students.

Aside from efforts to help improve the conventional educational institutions, the POSCO Group also cares for helping the lesser privileged through the Out of School Children program. For the program, POSCO partnered with UNESCO, and will fund USD $900,000 to develop and provide equitable and quality basic education to marginalized children in Cilegon and Karawang.

When these children from different areas and backgrounds grow up, they can further benefit from the POSCO Group’s TJ Park Foundation scholarship program. For more than 15 years, the POSCO Group has supported young talents in Indonesia by giving scholarships to more than 400 local university students who enrolled in Bachelor’s degree programs in universities in Indonesia and other support for tuition and living expenses to students who enrolled in Master’s or Doctoral degree programs at some of the most prestigious Korean universities, wishing to learn more about various aspects of Korea.

Last but not the least, through its social enterprise subsidiary PT KPSE Services Indonesia, PT Krakatau POSCO has provided job training programs, called Youth Training, for young residents in the Cilegon area seeking job opportunities. In the program, trainees are taught basic industrial skills such as welding, electric installation, and lathe machine operations while readying them for a more disciplined work environment with human resources development programs such as character building courses. This is a combination of theoretical training and practical training with the purpose of preparing them for work by learning new skills for six months.

Despite various restrictions due to the pandemic, the POSCO Group has and will not only continue to take on such a comprehensive approach for nurturing Indonesia’s next generation of leaders, but also strive to take that extra step to make a positive social impact in all corners of Indonesia. And the recognition by Bisnis Indonesia for POSCO’s various CSR efforts at this instance will certainly bolster its future contributions.

The effort to restore coastal and marine ecosystems is now becoming a global agenda that needs to be completed sustainably and carried out jointly by all parties. As one of our mother companies, POSCO has developed an artificial reef made of steel slag and named Triton after the God of the sea in Greek mythology. This material has been proven safe for the environment and marine life and has received approval from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of Korea. Triton contains calcium and iron, which are very advantageous for marine ecosystems. Triton could also restrain hurricanes and tsunamis, and it is resistant to seawater corrosion.

POSCO has placed Triton at thirty locations in the territorial waters of the Republic of Korea to facilitate algae growth and provide a habitat and breeding area for fish and other underwater biotas. As a manufacturing industry located directly adjacent to the coast of Java Island, Cilegon, Banten, Krakatau POSCO has also paid particular attention to Indonesia’s coastal ecosystem, especially its coral reefs.

Geographically, Indonesia has a coastline of 95,181km, the second-longest coastline in the world after Canada, with a current coral reef area of about 50,000km². Coral reefs are a crucial ecosystem for our earth, especially in Indonesia, with more water than land. The ecological value of coral reefs comes from their utilization as a habitat, source of nourishment, nursery, and breeding ground for various ocean species. They also create a barrier to protect coasts from erosion. Coral reefs provide a variety of economic advantages to this country and its communities. Coral reefs in Indonesia could be a destination for marine tourism, especially for world diving tours. Every square kilometer of healthy coral reef can produce 60-90 tons of fish per year. This could create a huge multiplier effect for coastal economies.

Unfortunately, almost all coral reefs are under a threat of permanent damage, with only 6.7% in stable condition. The coral reefs in the Banten sea area are also in danger.

Regarding the restoration and propagation of coral reefs, Krakatau POSCO initially appointed Sukarame Village, Pandeglang, Banten as the outset location to put this prime program into action. The area of coral reef in Sukarame Village is less than one square kilometer. It is managed by a group of ecotourism guides developed by the Government Tourism Office of Pandeglang District, Loka PSPL Serang, and the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia.

Together with one of its partner companies, PT KPdP, and the Coastal and Marine Resources Management Office (Loka PSPL) Serang, Krakatau POSCO donated a spider rack to augment hard coral through transplantation. Spider racks are made of iron and have a hexagonal shape. So they are sturdy and massive, making a great substrate and structure for new coral reefs.

Before being planted, the spider rack is coated with coral and steel slag, inspired by the functionality of the steel slag content in POSCO’s Triton. Another reason that the spider rack is coated is to accommodate reefs that prefer a rougher substrate. In the first stage, nine spider racks were planted in a seabed of Sukarame Village’s coastal area. Krakatau POSCO, together with the Coastal and Marine Resources Management Office (Loka PSPL) Serang as the scientific supervisor, monitored the growth of these spider racks into an artificial reef. Because the progress was good and healthy, the company planted another ten spider racks, and this activity will be ongoing for the benefit of underwater nature conservation.

Currently, coral reef restoration and propagation processes are required to preserve the health of existing coral reefs and expand coral reef areas. This is needed so that the coral reefs can increase fisheries outputs and intensify ecotourism activities.

The hope is that the spider rack donation from Krakatau POSCO and the supporting company could help restore coral reefs in the Sukarame Village coastal area. This collaboration has been possible thanks to the dedication of local people who are concerned about marine biota and its importance to people’s lives. This kind of awareness is needed for fisheries to recover and be sustainable, and the enhancement of tourism and education will bring in many tourists who will help rehabilitate the local economy, supporting the local, coastal people in Indonesia to become the host of their area. This will also help speed up Indonesia’s economic recovery, especially following the pandemic.

POSCO-MKPC is located in Malaysia, a multicultural country with three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. In Malaysia, you can hear lots of different languages, and the variety of food in Malaysia is what you hardly find on the other side of the world. Malaysian food is principally influenced by the country’s religions. Malay Muslims only eat halal food, and pork and alcohol are prohibited from the table where they take their meals. For the Hindi Indians, and also for certain Chinese religions, beef is not an option.

In addition to the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia, due to local manpower issues, POSCO-MKPC has hired foreigners from Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar) and Nepal to work as machine operators on the factory floors. In other words, if we include Korean expatriates, there are seven different ethnic groups in total stationed at POSCO-MKPC. Organizing staff dinners (hue-sik, 회식) is always a challenging task. Therefore, we’ve decided to have fruits parties instead.

POSCO-MKPC celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019. We have celebrated various festive seasons with the respective groups of staff members at different times throughout the year. These have included a Buka Puasa dinner with Malay Muslim staff in the month of Ramadan, a Deepavali dinner with Indian staff in October (or November) and a Chinese New Year reunion dinner with Chinese staff in February. Nonetheless, we decided to plan something special for our MKPC Day celebration in 2019 to show our togetherness and unity.

It was quite an inspiring assignment, but of course, there were complaints and obstacles while organizing it. Differences in opinions and ideas were expected when people from different backgrounds, mindsets and cultures gathered together. But, in the end, we were thankful that everyone agreed that this event should belong to our fellow foreign plant operators. Thus, the theme of the dinner was set as “Bollywood,” and in the end, everyone enjoyed it very much.

Besides hosting internal events, participating in benchmarking events with other coil centers in Southeast Asia has enhanced team synergy among POSCO-MKPC staff. POSCO-MKPC organized a benchmarking event in February 2017, in which Korean expatriates and staff from POSCO-IJPC, POSCO-TBPC, POSCO-PMPC, POSCO-IDPC, POSCO-VHPC and POSCO-VNPC participated.

In addition to the benchmarking events, POSCO-MKPC staff members have participated in many training sessions organized by headquarters, which have turned into life-long memories for the participants. The POSCO-MKPC management team has been very supportive in sponsoring local staff to participate in various kinds of training organized by headquarters, and this has helped to minimize the issues of the cultural gap between locals and the headquarters.

Sport is always the right answer when it comes to teambuilding. Although we speak different languages at home, we are moving towards the same target when we have the same goal. This makes things straightforward. Before the coronavirus grew into a pandemic, POSCO-MKPC used to organize three to four sports competitions every year, including badminton, futsal, bowling, etc.

With all the different languages used at POSCO-MKPC, communication is always a challenge. But there is one common “language” used at POSCO-MKPC: “Safety.” and “First.”

Though we face many challenges in terms of culture and languages, safety is still the top priority goal for POSCO-MKPC. Safety awareness is being improved, with straightforward labels and signage that is easy to understand everywhere on the plant floors. Safety training is the main platform for reminding the floor staff of the importance of safety and a bridge for the POSCO-MKPC management staff to encourage and reward local staff.

Without trust, respect and compassion from all working levels at POSCO-MKPC, it is very difficult to share the same vision, values and ultimate goals. POSCO-MKPC will continue its hard work in maintaining good team synergy in this unique multicultural workforce.