KT Strengthening Pro Bono Services
By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
Despite continued fears of economic downturn, South Korea's telecom giant is strengthening its pro bono services to enhance its corporate image.
KT officials say its reinforcement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities is in keeping with the government's recent working class-friendly policy.
College students who have joined the KT-backed social contribution programs are voluntarily educating the older generations to improve their basic computing skills.
The telecom firm is regularly inviting the underprivileged to its cultural events.
According to KT officials, the company has been running an "IT Supporters" program, aimed at boosting the information technology (IT)-related interpretation skills of thousands of foreign workers in labor-intensive manufacturing plants across the nation.
The program is composed of 400 IT experts. Since the launch of the program in 2007, some 870,000 people have benefited from the distinctive company project, officials said.
"As employees of the nation's leading telecom company, we are feeling more responsibility to make social contributions. When companies take social contributions and charity up a notch, they will benefit from an improved corporate image and gain additional momentum for sustainable growth," a company spokesman, Kim Young-wan, said Tuesday.
KT is set to spend this year's projected budget for CSR activities as earlier planned, officials said.
Kim also added that the number of company workers participating in social charity programs is rising despite fears it would recede because of the economic downturn.
Such programs allow even hard-working company executives to give back to society and offer an opportunity to integrate social responsibility into their business.
"Sustainability in CSR activities will bring long-term benefits. One crucial consideration toward the path is to maintain a solid partnership with regional communities, which is not very difficult," according to Kim.
KT is collaborating with city governments and regional provinces to launch new IT programs for small- and medium-sized firms.
Meanwhile, it is supporting related infrastructure in colleges as part of its systematical approach to be a responsible corporate citizen.
"No one is accusing South Korean companies for turning their backs on making social contributions. However, companies have to realize that CSR activities coerced by the government and the media do not coincide with the nature of CSR," Lee Jong-su, a media critic for Hanyang University, said.
"CSR services should be done voluntarily based on renewed belief that companies' social contributions are a strategic investment, not a waste. In terms of such concepts, KT is doing it the right way," Lee added.