Park Soondeok, Union President of SeAH Special Steel, and Lee Hyunsik, CEO of AJU Steel, Honored with Grand Prize at Gyeongsangbuk-do Industrial Peace Awards

On September 11, the North Gyeongsang Province government held the 29th Gyeongsangbuk-do Industrial Peace Awards ceremony at the Stanford Hotel Andong to recognize and encourage individuals who have established an advanced labor-management culture through cooperation and contributed to the promotion of industrial peace.

The ceremony was attended by award recipients and their families, company representatives, Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of North Gyeongsang Province, Sohn In-rak, CEO of Yeongnam Ilbo, Lee Chun-woo, Vice Chair of the North Gyeongsang Provincial Council, Kwon O-tak, Chair of the Korean Federation of Trade Unions North Gyeongsang Regional Headquarters, Ko Byung-heon, Chair of the North Gyeongsang Employers' Association, and more than 100 participants in total.

Award recipients who participated in the Gyeongbuk Industrial Peace Award ceremony gathered at Hanji-ri for a commemorative photo.

This year, a total of eight individuals were honored, with four each in the worker and employer categories.

The Grand Prize, the highest honor, was awarded to Park Soondeok, Union President at SeAH Special Steel Co., Ltd. Pohang Plant, in the worker category, and Lee Hyunsik, CEO of AJU Steel Co., Ltd., in the employer category.

President Park established a no-conflict, mutually beneficial labor-management culture by implementing proactive wage freezes and expanding employee welfare benefits. He operated a joint labor-management Industrial Safety and Health Committee and donated 300 million won for earthquake and wildfire relief efforts.

CEO Lee strengthened a cooperative culture through employment succession without labor disputes and held regular labor-management meetings. He invested 232 billion won in Gumi and Gimcheon, creating 387 new jobs, and has continued corporate social responsibility initiatives such as adopting AI safety systems and providing scholarships.

In addition, in the worker category, Kwang-yeol Yoon, Union President of P&DT Co., Ltd., won the Gold Prize; Jaeyeol Lee, Union President of POSCO DX, won the Silver Prize; and Byunghoon Choi, Production Team Leader at Iljin Co., Ltd., won the Bronze Prize. In the employer category, the Gold Prize went to Jinbo Kim, CEO of POSCO M-TECH Co., Ltd.; the Silver Prize to Byung-rok Park, CEO of Shinheung Taxi Co., Ltd.; and the Bronze Prize to Byungwook Noh, CEO of Dohyun Co., Ltd.

The Gyeongsangbuk-do Industrial Peace Award was established in 1997 and celebrates its 29th event this year. So far, 159 workers and 154 employers—a total of 313 recipients—have been honored.

Awardees are given benefits such as priority for small and medium-sized enterprise development funds, priority selection for domestic industrial inspection tours, and (for worker recipients only) priority recommendation for their children's scholarships.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo stated, "It is more important than ever that labor and management overcome economic crises under the values of coexistence and cooperation, not extreme confrontation, even amid challenging economic conditions. I look forward to the continued collaboration between labor and management to establish an advanced labor-management culture that will revitalize the local economy and foster new industries."

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