Almonty Korea Tungsten donates festival winnings to elderly residents

Almonty Korea Tungsten employees deliver a donation of prize money to the Sangdong Community Security Council in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of Almonty Korea Tungsten

By Lee Kyung-min

• Published May 27, 2026 2:42 PM KST

Employees of Almonty Korea Tungsten turned a tug-of-war victory into a donation for elderly residents in a former mining town, handing over all prize money earned at a major regional festival to local welfare programs.

The global mining company said Wednesday that about 30 employees participated as representatives of Sangdong-eup in the 59th Danjong Cultural Festival in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, and donated the entire 800,000 won ($531) prize awarded by Yeongwol County to support older residents in the community.

The donation was delivered to the Sangdong Community Security Council and will be used for meal support programs for elderly residents living alone and other vulnerable seniors in the area.

Almonty Korea Tungsten placed third this year in the festival’s traditional kudzu rope tug-of-war competition after finishing as runners-up last year.

The annual event, one of Yeongwol’s best-known cultural festivals, celebrates community unity and wishes for a plentiful harvest.

Employees joined local residents in the competition and also volunteered at food stalls operated by the Sangdong Women’s Association during the festival, the company said.

Sangdong-eup was once the center of Korea’s tungsten mining industry and home to nearly 30,000 residents during the sector’s peak.

The population has since fallen to about 1,000 following the decline of the mining industry.

Baek Jun-hee, head of Sangdong-eup, said the company’s participation and donation would provide meaningful support for the local community.

Kim Jong-beom, head of external relations at Almonty Korea Tungsten, said employees felt proud to donate money they had earned together through the competition.

He said the company would continue pursuing coexistence with residents in Sangdong and Yeongwol through community support programs and local engagement.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.