Dongkuk Steel Group to Continue 10-Year Partnership with Myeongdong Bapjib, Sponsorship Extended Through 2030

Five-Year Agreement Extension... Additional Support of KRW 200 Million Annually
Total Support of KRW 2.1 Billion Including Vice Chairman Jang Sewook's Personal Donation
Employee Volunteer Activities Held Alongside

Dongkuk Steel Group will continue its partnership with the Myeongdong Bapjib free meal center until 2030. Based on the relationship that began with a personal donation by Vice Chairman Jang Sewook of Dongkuk Steel Group in 2021, the company plans to provide a total of KRW 2.1 billion in support over ten years.

At the 'Myeongdong Bapjip 2nd Support Agreement Ceremony' held at the Catholic Center in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, Jang Se-wook, Vice Chairman of Dongkuk Steel Group (left), and Paek Kwang-jin, Director of Myeongdong Bapjip Center, are taking a commemorative photo. Dongkuk Steel Group

Dongkuk Steel Group announced on August 14 that it held the 'Myeongdong Bapjib 2nd Term Sponsorship Agreement Ceremony' at the main building of the Catholic Center in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, where it agreed to extend its sponsorship by an additional five years on top of the initial five-year commitment. Vice Chairman Jang personally attended the ceremony, signed the agreement, and delivered KRW 200 million in sponsorship funds for this year.

With this renewed agreement, the partnership between Dongkuk Steel Group and Myeongdong Bapjib will now span a total of ten years. Under the first long-term sponsorship agreement, Dongkuk Steel Group provided a total of KRW 1.1 billion from 2021 to 2025. With this new agreement, the company will additionally support the center with KRW 200 million per year, totaling KRW 1 billion, through 2030.

The partnership with Myeongdong Bapjib began with Vice Chairman Jang's personal donation. In March 2021, as communal meal services around Dongkuk Steel Group's headquarters at the Ferrum Tower in Euljiro, Seoul, dwindled due to the spread of COVID-19, Vice Chairman Jang directly sought out a place to support and donated KRW 100 million of his personal funds to Myeongdong Bapjib. This led to a review of additional group-level support, resulting in the decision for five years of long-term sponsorship.

At the agreement ceremony, Vice Chairman Jang, Oh Seungwon, Director of the Hanmaum Hanmom Movement Headquarters, and Paek Kwangjin, Director of the Myeongdong Bapjib Center, discussed various ways to promote and expand donation activities.

Vice Chairman Jang stated, "Donation and sponsorship are not one-time acts, but require consistent commitment," and added, "We will continue to provide ongoing support." He went on, "There are many people who wish to participate in donations, but do not know how or find it difficult. We will look for ways at the group level, such as using QR codes or cards, to make it easier and encourage more people to join in supporting Myeongdong Bapjib."

Paek Kwangjin, Director of the Myeongdong Bapjib Center, said, "We are grateful to Dongkuk Steel Group for continuing to support Myeongdong Bapjib for another five years," and added, "Thanks to everyone’s help, we have established an indoor meal service environment, allowing both users and volunteers to participate in a safe and comfortable environment." He continued, "We will continue to provide the necessary support so that Myeongdong Bapjib can be a place where people find not only a meal, but also strength to maintain their daily lives and rise again."

On this day, Dongkuk Steel Group employees also participated in volunteer activities. A volunteer group consisting of about ten employees from Dongkuk Holdings, Dongkuk Steel, and Dongkuk CM, was divided into two teams to help with meal distribution, on-site organization, and dishwashing.

Myeongdong Bapjib is a free meal center established in 2021 that provides complimentary meals in Myeongdong, Seoul, to those facing food insecurity, such as the homeless and elderly living alone.

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