Delivering Love to the Underprivileged

In order to contribute to an improvement of the living conditions of the poor whose financial stability has worsened due to the economic downturn, The Europe-Korea Foundation organized a charity event ‘Delivering love to the Underprivileged’ in association with Seoul Food Bank, a donated food distribution channel of Seoul Metropolitan Goverment, on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 at Gui Park in Gwangjin District.

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2009 international Youth Football Tournament

The Europe-Korea Foundation held the 2009 International Youth Football Tournament, sponsored mainly by ING Bank and Seoul Global Center, on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at the Grand Children’s Center in Seoul. It first started in 2005 with the intention of promoting friendships and understandings among children with different backgrounds through the means of sports and fair play.

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EKF’s efforts on spreading the notion of fair trade

EKF held its first International Fair Trade Seminar, sponsored by Korean International Cooperation Agency(KOICA), on September 22nd, 2009 at Kukdo Hotel. The seminar is intended to raise awarness about Fairtrade in Korea, and many people from various sectors attended.

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2009 International Youth Football Tournament

Following the success of the 2005 and 2008 editions, EKF is planning to organize the 3rd International Youth Football Tournament 2009 in Seoul. During the tournament several teams of children (including a team from SOS Children Village, and teams from international schools in Seoul) will be facing each other. The tournament will be held in October.

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Fair Trade

Fair Trade is an emerging approach of supporting small producers from developing countries through trade. As per the official definition: “Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair Trade Organizations, backed by consumers, are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade. ” The Fair Trade movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries.

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2009 Seoul Traditional Artist Awards

‘2009 Seoul Traditional Artist Awards,’ aiming to preserve and develop Korean traditional culture, was successfully ended. Following the great success of 2007 and 2008 editions, this year’s 3rd edition could not have done without the support from the Europe-Korea Foundation, HSBC Korea, Boehringer-Ingelheim Korea and Seoul Metropolitan City. This year, HSBC Korea sponsored six Intangible Cultural Assets, and Boehringer-Ingelheim Korea supported one Intangible Cultural Asset through “One Company- One Artist” sponsorship program.

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EKF Bazaar

On 4th of May, EKF with the sponsorship of 11 foreign (mostly Europeans) and domestic companies successfully organized a bazaar during the Children’s Day festival in Ganghwa. This bazaar was an event to help the poor in Gangwha, which is 1.5 hours drive from Seoul. With the support of many corporate sponsors, tables were full of products, food, clothes etc., and the park was filled with compassion, love, laughter and the bargaining sounds. Many children who were participating in a drawing contest for Children’s day event were happy to join this bazaar with their parents and ran around with the joy of various flavored ice cream and LEGO toys.

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EKF Organizes its First Global Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility

The Europe-Korea Foundation, in cooperation with the PR & Marketing Committee of EUCCK, organized on the 17th of February 2009 its first seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility. The topic of the forum was “CSR in Times of Economic Crisis”. Today, the on-going economic crisis and budget cuts have an important impact on the corporate social activities of companies operating in Korea. In order to debate these new challenges and share their views, EKF invited executives from leading European and Korean companies, along with speakers from the academic field, communication sector and civil society. Mr. Brian McDonald, ambassador of the European Commission Delegation to Korea, opened the seminar and gave the welcoming speech. He urged European and Korean companies to increase CSR activities, saying that “we can meet our objectives of sustainable development only if enterprises are trusted and actually trustworthy and valued for their contribution to society”. Dr. Rho Han-Kyun, Professor of Business Administration at Kukmin University and CSR expert, explained the Korean government policies toward CSR, detailing which area of CSR are covered by ministries. Mr. Peter C. Feldinger, Managing Director of Novo Nordisk Pharma Korea, explained how CSR is actually part of the solution in order to overcome the current economic difficulties, and showed how its own company actually increased their benefits by focusing more on its CSR, and by having a broad vision of CSR that encompasses all areas of the company. Mr. Gwon Hyuk-Il, Community Relations Dpt. Director of NHN Corporation, the Korean company which is running the Naver portal, detailed the unique features of their online donation portal, an innovative technique to reach donors that usually are not involved in charities and NGO support. As a representative of a famous Korean charity NGO, Mr. Chun Heungyoun, Chief Manager of The Community Chest of Korea, introduced some activities of his organization, and explained how they can find financial support. Ms. Ruth Naderer, Head of Corporate Affairs of SC First Bank, offered a presentation entitled Building a Sustainable Business in Difficult Times, and explained the successful sustainable (a term preferred to “socially responsible”) strategies conducted by her company. Finally, Dr. Seol Do-won, Senior Executive Director of Home Plus, detailed the objectives of Home Plus in term of CSR and the importance of gaining customers’ trust and respect, and gave an extensive overview of his company’s sustainable policies.

Jubilee’s Valentine Day’s Event “Find Charlie”

On Feburary 14th, The Europe –Korea Foundation joined to support a special Valentine’s Day event, “Find Charlie!,” organized by Jubilee (JF&B Co. Ltd), a leading manufacturer of premium hand-made chocolate. The main concept of the event, “Find Charlie,” was based on the story of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” a children’s book adapted into a movie “Charlie and the Chocolate factory in 2005” by the famous director, Tim Burton.

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