Social Contribution: Vision and Promotion System

KT is implementing social contribution typed gap bridge centered around people, society and culture in a various way in order to make an equal world where everyone is connected and enjoys the benefit of GIGAtopia. The company focuses its social contribution on building a sustainable society through gap bridge activities using core competence such as GIGA infra and ICT technology. This will be realized by extending the KT management philosophy of becoming ‘the best national company promoting national benefit based on ICT’ into the social contribution area. KT is deploying various gap bridge activities in terms of people, society and culture considering the characteristics of a telecom company and improving the lives of people and realizing the UN’s SDGs in connection with affiliates.

Social Contribution Group

KT newly installed its ‘Sustainable Management Committee’ in the BOD in April 2016, which promotes efficient and substantial social contribution activities. Also, the company has been deploying group-wide social contributions via Social Contribution Committee under the committee. The Social Contribution Committee oversees public services of KT Group, runs KT employees volunteer corps and social contribution funds and plans/coordinates discovery of joint business opportunities between affiliates.

Social Contribution Activities

KT is promoting social contributions in the areas of people, society and culture to make a better future with connection and diffusion. We are connecting people to people, home to home, land to island, and urban to rural, and also spreading knowledge to where it is most needed and culture to where the benefits are lacking.

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  IT Supporters

  IT Supporters, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year, is Korea’s first pro bono activity. All current and former KT employees, using their talents through IT Supporters, are providing information-vulnerable social groups with nationwide IT education to narrow the information gap.

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  Dream School

  Dream School and its mentors (retirees and foreign students), using the interactive ICT mentoring platform built with KT video conference system in 2013, takes the lead in mentoring children and youth from vulnerable social groups and narrowing the educational gap.

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  Scholarship

  KT started its scholarship program in 1988 and has implemented a variety of programs such as 'Creative Innovative Leader Scholarship' and 'Labor-Management Youth Scholarship'. Since 2014, the company has not just been awarding scholarships but also providing mentoring to youth through Dream School.

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  Love Volunteers

  ‘Love Volunteers,’ a KT employees volunteer group headed by the CEO, is promoting various voluntary services such as supporting the community’s child center, helping the underprivileged of the community, supporting disaster recovery, offering helping hands to farming and fishing villages, checking community centers and giving experience education through KT facilities.

* Pro Bono: a service that uses the specific skills of professionals to provide services to those who are unable to afford them.

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  GiGA Story Project

  GIGA Story, which is a representative social contribution program promoted through KT’s creative and innovative ideas, will provide GIGA infrastructure and customized solution to islands and highlands experiencing a significant digital divide and improve the life of local people in terms of education, culture, economy and environment.

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  Dongja Hope Sharing Center

  Dongja Hope Sharing Center is a ICT cultural complex KT established in Dongja-dong, Yongsan-gu, a representative flophouse area in Seoul, in 2014. Since its opening, the center has become a place where local people solve basic living inconveniences and relax, which has provided positive changes to the community.

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  KT Ggoompoom Center

  The company has run KT Ggoompoom Centers using unused space in the 21 branch buildings nationwide since 2010. KT Ggoompoom Centers are equipped with IPTVs, beam projectors and other IT devices to provide children of vulnerable social groups with education in English, music, culture and art.

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  Universal Service

  Universal Service means a basic telecom service at the right price provided for every user anytime and anywhere. KT provides basic telecom services such as local call, public phone, island communication and marine radio to fulfill responsibilities as a national company.

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  KT Chamberhall

  KT Chamberhall is a classical theater opened in 2009 for the purpose of spreading beautiful ‘voice’ to the public. All performance proceeds are used for the social contribution program, ‘KT Voice Back,’ to help cure hearing-impaired children.

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  KT Square

  KT Square, an IT cultural complex opened on the first floor of KT’s Gwanghwamun building in May 2010, gives people the opportunity to experience KT’s latest IT devices and services for free and provides culture/rest space such as cafe, Dream Hall performance, telecom museum and 5G technology exhibition.

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  Getting voice back to the hearing-impaired

  Since 2003, KT, considering the characteristics of a telecom business, has deployed ‘KT Voice Back’ to get the voice back to the hearing-impaired children of low-income groups who have difficulties in communicating. The program largely separates treatment support, rehabilitation support and family support.

Shared Growths with Suppliers System

KT is establishing a mutual growth system through which it can communicate, cooperate and benefit from win-win opportunities with suppliers. For this, the company installed a grow-together organization in 2010, through which it has communicated with suppliers and implemented diverse activities to improve their competitiveness. We are developing various grow-together programs to create shared value with suppliers so that we can lead a mutual growth culture for suppliers, strengthen the Korean telecom ecosystem and secure a presence in the global marketplace.

Sustainable SCM

Sustainable Supply Chain Policy

KT evaluates its sustainable management based on sustainable supply chain management policy, minimizes risks in the supply chain and promotes long-term mutual growth. The company established ‘sustainability guidelines for suppliers’ for the first time in the given domestic industry in December 2012 and has realized systematic sustainable SCM. The guidelines include KT willingness to expand sustainable management throughout its entire supply chain. It consists of 4 sections of business implementation principles, environmental management, corporate social responsibility and product sustainability and presents standards for sustainable management the suppliers expect from KT across 18 areas.

Assess sustainable management of suppliers and provide education

To realize improvement of supply chain sustainability pursued in the ‘sustainability guidelines for suppliers,’ KT introduced its sustainable management assessment for regular suppliers in 2013, which measures possible economic, environmental and social risks within the supply chain and manages them regularly. The evaluation indexes have been developed based on requirements of sustainable management by KT suppliers who were asked by the guidelines. Evaluation results are reflected in the annual unit assessment per supplier, and the level of suppliers’ sustainability is considered in the process of selecting suppliers or best suppliers and re-selecting suppliers. We also run sustainable management training programs for working-level employees since 2014, through which suppliers can share understanding on sustainable management and practice it in the field.