Shin & Kim provides North Korean defectors with emergency life-stabilization funds

Shin & Kim has held a ‘North Korean Refugees Startup Contest’ to support North Korean Refugees’ startups since 2017. In 2020, in lieu of such contest, Shin & Kim launched an ‘emergency life-stabilization funding support for North Korean refugees’ project to support self-employed North Korean refugees suffering after-effects of the spread of COVID-19. After the selection of six businesses by documentary examination, either members of Shin & Kim visited the business places of such six businesses on September 24, 25 and 28, 2020. They learned difficulties of self-employed North Korean refugees due to the decline in sales from the Covid-19 pandemic, and supported, encouraged them. Shin & Kim will provide up to KRW 2 million to each selected business. Shin & Kim will continue providing various supports for the North Korean Refugees to help them weather difficulties.

IKEA Korea opened ‘IKEA Lab’, focusing on sustainable life and a healthy planet

November 5, 2020

On November 5, home furnishing retail company IKEA Korea officially opened ‘IKEA Lab’, a pop-up focusing on sustainability, in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. The pop-up is part of IKEA Korea’s long-term aim to drive a sustainable home furnishing movement in Korea, inspiring the many Koreans to start living a better, more sustainable life at home.

To engage more people to participate IKEA’s efforts on sustainability, ‘IKEA Co-worker Plogging’ was held as a part of IKEA Lab’s pre-opening activities. ‘Plogging’ – a small environmental movement which originated in Sweden, is a people and planet positive activity which combines jogging with picking up garbage. IKEA co-workers joined the event to create a meaningful impact for the people and planet.

IKEA Lab held Sustainability Talk Concert and a variety of social media events to share ideas and inspirations for sustainable living as well as to encourage many people to practice sustainability in everyday life.

St. Mary’s Charity of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital Donates to Foreigners Living in Korea

St. Mary’s Charity of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea has donated 12,000,000KRW to Migrant Pastoral Committee of the Archdiocese of Seoul this Winter to help foreigners who have financial difficulties due to COVID-19 and chronic diseases.

“We have made donations for foreigners who are often excluded from aids and supports during the pandemic. We are glad our donations are used for a meaningful purpose and hope foreigners, who are the members of our society, can be cheered up by this help,” quoted Charity President. This donation will be equally delivered to 12 foreigners who were recommended by its 7 affiliated communities by the Migrant Pastoral Committee.

St. Mary’s Charity is voluntarily run by the staffs of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic Medical Center and Catholic University of Korea, carrying out numerous programs: • supporting living expenses and rehabilitation costs for financially-strapped patients and their families • assisting College of Medicine and Nursing students with the medical volunteering on weekends • supporting medical expenses and living costs for home care patients • making social contributions to local communities

BKL conducts non-contact volunteer activities of making ‘braille poster boards’

Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (“BKL”) and Dongcheon Foundation (“Dongcheon”) conducted non-contact volunteer activities of making ‘braille poster boards’ for persons with visual disabilities. ‘Braille poster board’ is an educational aid used for a person with visual disabilities to learn braille for the first time. 100 volunteers from BKL made braille poster boards at their respective office or personal space. Completed braille poster boards were delivered to an organization for persons with visual disabilities in November. The boards will help them to learn braille at home, at a time when COVID-19 pandemic is severely limiting learning opportunities. BKL and Dongcheon will continue to seek innovative ways to conduct non-contact volunteer activities that will contribute to overcoming the pandemic.

Porsche Korea Holds First “Porsche Dream Circle” Opening Ceremony at Pangyo Elementary School

Porsche Korea has successfully initiated its very first “Porsche Dream Circle" opening ceremony at Pangyo Elementary School in Seongnam, Gyeonggi province, on the 24th of November, 2020. The Dream Circle opening ceremony was held by representatives from Porsche Korea, ChildFund Korea, Tree Planet, and Pangyo Elementary School to commemorate the beginning of its pioneering sustainability initiative in Korea.      

Porsche Korea’s “Dream Circle” is a new branch of its corporate social responsibility project under the overarching campaign “Porsche Do Dream.” The initiative involves planting trees and providing solar panels on school grounds to provide adequate places for students to learn and leisure in an environmentally friendly zone. In addition, this project incorporates groundbreaking new technology—the “Smart Forest System"—which automatically irrigates and maintains the environment by tracking the humidity, temperature, and other meteorological measurements all on its own. It marks a significant achievement in Porsche Korea's energy conservation and sustainability efforts.

Along with the first Porsche Korea’s “Dream Circle” campaign with Pangyo Elementary School, Porsche Korea has effectively extended the campaign with other schools, such as Eunjin Elementary School and Jamhyun Elementary School, up to the end of 2020. Since its first launch of “Porsche Do Dream” in 2017, Porsche Korea has contributed a total of 1.149 BKRW through its initiatives. It continues to expand its CSR programs and remains committed to maintaining and promoting awareness of social and environmental issues to help build a better Korea for all.

Robert Walters Korea continues to create a positive impact in communities

As a part of our Global Charity Day initiative to support local communities around the world, Robert Walters Korea participated in numerous goodwill activities. Robert Walters Korea’s employees volunteered at an animal rescue centre and community restaurant, “plogged” at a community park and joined a charity run and raised total 3 million won. The funds will be used to provide meals to the homeless, to shelter and feed rescued animals, and to keep the local parks clean and safe. Books were donated to Aram Youth Centre Library at the Juvenile Detention Centre, as well as clothes and new masks to Anna's House, a homeless shelter Robert Walters Korea has been partnering with for long-term volunteering.

BASF Korea Supports Young Scientists Through BASF Kids' Lab

BASF Korea has developed and contributed science experiment kits and online programs as part of its BASF Kids’ Lab outreach, to support young scientists in Yeosu, Ulsan and Daejeon, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 2,000 kits were donated to elementary school children during a donation ceremony at Yeosu City Hall, on November 16, where Oh-Bong Kwon, Mayor of Yeosu city and Young-Yull Kim, Representative Director of BASF Korea, attended.

Aligned with the elementary school curriculum, the BASF Kids’ Lab science kit includes three experiments: the ”dirty water change” that shows mixture separation and water purification, the ‘lava lamp’, allows children to observe the weight and density of substances, and the ”hydrogen fuel battery”, which demonstrates water electrolysis. The kit can be used for educational purposes under the supervision of teachers, and the online programs can be accessed using QR codes included in the kits. The science kits will be distributed to elementary school and child welfare centers in Ulsan, Yeosu and Daejeon.

As a key part of BASF’s social engagement activities focus on science education, BASF Kids’ Lab was first established in 1997 in Germany. It takes place annually in more than 30 countries around the world, with the aim to raise children’s interest in chemistry. This year, BASF Korea has developed science experiment kits and online programs to bring a safe, contactless educational experience for the children, as opposed to the physical events held across the country in the past. This initiative is in addition to the ‘Virtual Kids’ Lab’ which was launched in Korea in 2017 in celebration of the 20-year anniversary of BASF Kids’ Lab in Korea.

Qualcomm supports 2020-2021 Korea Robot Championship

‘2020-2021 Korea Robot Championship (KRC)’ sponsored in part by Qualcomm Incorporated to inspire students interested in STEM fields, will be held online from February 1 to February 28.

Qualcomm’s support of the KRC will allow FEST to provide teams with robot sets and educational sessions on robot production and coding. The students will also be offered the opportunity to join the FIRST Tech Challenge competition where they can compete for a chance to advance to the FIRST Championship.

The Qualcomm Innovation Hub will also be providing grants to schools and students to receive robots and education sessions on coding on smartphones for robot control and a chance to experience the World Robot Competition, using advanced robots controlled by Android phones. Both the scholarships and Qualcomm Innovation Hub programs are very popular among participants and are expected to contribute to the growth of scientific thinking and problem-solving skills in engineering for Korean students and Educators.