Busan-headquartered KSD steps up corporate responsibility in region

Korea Securities Depository (KSD) is stepping up efforts to enhance corporate social responsibility as a financial institution in Busan, a city that struggles with population decline and other economic difficulties, company officials said Monday.

The Seoul branch of Busan-headquartered Korea Securities Depository (KSD) / Courtesy of KSD

The institution is focusing on three areas — helping university students find jobs, operating a fund to revitalize the local economy and supporting poverty-stricken older adults.

The KSD has been expanding its vocational program for university students across the city.

The program aims to help candidates find jobs with the depository. It now operates at 12 universities, up from five in 2019.

In addition, 1.98 billion won ($1.44 million) in scholarship funds have been distributed to more than 200 students over a 10-year period.

Despite being the second-largest city in the country, Busan grapples with much of the same economic decline currently affecting rural areas, as the nation's GDP relies heavily on Seoul.

To help the city overcome these challenges, the KSD donated 750 million won between 2018 and 2023 to the Busan ESG Fund, which was formed in 2018 to help revitalize the city's economy.

The depository is also the official sponsor of the Busan International Film Festival, which has evolved into one of Asia's most influential film festivals since its inception in 1996.

To tackle poverty among seniors, the KSD has been donating gift certificates that can be used as cash to the Korean Red Cross since 2011.

In line with the carbon neutrality goals of the government and the United Nations, the KSD is working on creating new forests in Pyeongchang and Wonju, both located in Gangwon Province.

Each project is scheduled to last 30 years, with the Pyeongchang initiative running from 2012 to 2042 and the Wonju initiative from 2022 to 2052.