HD Hyundai to set up scholarship foundation for children of workers killed in workplace accidents

HD Hyundai Group has decided to establish a charitable foundation for bereaved families of its shipbuilding business employees who died while on duty, according to the country's major shipbuilding, energy and machinery company, Wednesday.

The group's Chairman Kwon Oh-gap first suggested introducing the foundation to "fulfill the group's duty as the world's top shipbuilder," according to the company.

"It broke my heart whenever I thought about the bereft families who lost their parents or sons and daughters in sudden accidents in shipbuilding sites," Kwon said. "It may be a little late but HD Hyundai must take action to console those families."

Kwon is personally donating 100 million won ($76,000) to the foundation. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, which are subsidiaries of the group, will also donate to the foundation.

With the foundation, the company will first subsidize tuition fees for members of bereft families who are university students. The support will later extend to helping those who are living under the country's poverty line.

The foundation's board of directors will comprise five members, most of whom will be from outside the company to guarantee transparency in the foundation's management beyond the company's interests.

"The foundation will see to it that its directors are from the country's industrial, social welfare and academic fields and have skills and reputations," a company official said. "In addition to preventing accidents in shipbuilding sites, through the collaboration of workers and the management, we will strive to sympathize with the bereft families."

In 2011 Kwon made headlines by encouraging employees to donate one percent of their wages to a charity foundation led by HD Hyundai Oilbank. In 2020, his philanthropic initiative spread to the group's entire subsidiaries, with the group beginning to run the foundation.

On the same page, the company last year introduced the HD Hyundai Honor Award to celebrate people with outstanding philanthropic activities. Last year, the award selected an anonymous person who has been donating money to the poor in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, each year.