Posco recently established the "Posco TJ Park Foundation" as part of its effort to expand its social contribution activities. It will be managed with KRW 100 billion and aims to fulfill Posco's social responsibilities as a sustainable company.

The Foundation held a Board Meeting at the Posco Center Sept. 8 in which it completed its "Mid- to Long-Term Master Plan for Social Contribution." The Plan includes expanding support in academics, research, and culture and art activities, and providing more scholarships.

Reorganized from the "Posco Scholarships Foundation," which was established with KRW 60 million in funding in 1971, the Posco TJ Park Foundation will receive KRW 10 billion in additional funding from Posco this year and next, and will ultimately be managed with KRW 100 billion in funding from 2006.

Posco's global activities for social contribution are recognized as an attempt to meet the expectations and needs of its customers, stockholders, suppliers, local communities, employees, and other interested parties, and to fulfill its social responsibilities as a global company that meets international standards. The social contribution activities of the Posco TJ Park Foundation will solidify Posco's reputation in the global arena as a leading company, and will strengthen the company's global brand power.

The Mid- to Long-Term Master Plan discussed at the Board Meeting aims to:

• Foster new-generation manpower with great capacity to grow.
• Construct an Asian fellowship network.
• Expand social contributions through participation and sharing.

Plans are also underway to gradually increase the scale of annual contribution from KRW 4.2 billion this year to KRW 10 billion or higher. Specifically, its activities will entail:

• Establishing the "Posco TJ Park Award".
• Offering "Saetbyeol (New Star) Scholarships" for high school students who live near Posco's steelworks.
• Providing "Nanum (Sharing) Scholarships" for underprivileged youths.
• Bolstering civil organizations for international training programs.
• Encouraging "steel art" creations.
• Assisting Korean students studying in Asia.

It will also provide support to selective colleges and universities for researches and forums in liberal arts and social studies, and for the publication of literature periodicals.

The "Posco Asia Fellowship," in particular, supports promising young manpower of Asia to grow into global leaders with a positive view of Korea. Among students from China, Japan, India, Vietnam, and other Asian countries, 40 will be selected each year to pursue master's or doctorate programs in Korea's leading graduate schools of international studies with the provision of full tuition for two years and a living expenses subsidy.

At the Board Meeting, President Ku-Taek Lee of the Foundation stressed that ".... a company's social contribution activities are highly required not only in Korea, but also globally." He added, "Let's put forth great effort to lead all activities of the Posco TJ Foundation to success, so Posco can solidify its image as a respectable good company."

Last August, Posco TJ Park Foundation appointed CEO Ku-Taek Lee of Posco as the President, Gwang-Woong Choi, the former Senior Executive Vice President of Posco, as the Standing Director, and Sang-Gyung Gwak, an honorary professor at Korea University, as the Non-standing Director.

Other members include Hee-Youn Song, President of the Asia Development Institute, Soo-Gyung Yoon, the Secretary General of the Organization of Social Welfare Funding, Dae-Hwan Lee, a novelist, Chae-Wook Lee, the CEO of GE Korea, Woon-Chan Chung, the President of Seoul National University, Tae-Gi Jung, the President of Hankyoreh Plus, Inc., Nyum Jin, the former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy, and Soo-Jong Choi, an actor. In addition, Tae-Sik Seo, an Honorary CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers Korea, and Hyung-Mo Lee, President of NGOTIMES, were appointed as auditors.