POSCO Group launches largest annual volunteer week across 23 countries

POSCO Group announced Sunday that it is holding its largest annual volunteer event, the "2026 Global Volunteer Week," from Thursday through Tuesday, with employees across all group affiliates at home and abroad taking part.

Now in its 17th year, Global Volunteer Week is POSCO Group's flagship corporate social responsibility initiative. Each year during a designated week in May or June, approximately 24,000 employees across 23 countries take part in volunteer activities tailored to the needs of their local communities.

POSCO Group Chairman Chang In-hwa also joined the effort. On the first day of the volunteer week, Chang visited Jungsan 1-ri in Pohang alongside some 200 group employees, helping install handrails on village pavilion steps and clearing fallen leaves and branches from a nearby stream as part of a "safe village" improvement campaign.

Employees replaced aging walls with steel fences made from POSCO Group steel and delivered safety kits for elderly residents — each containing a spray-type fire extinguisher, an LED sensor light and an automatic fire-suppression power strip. They also used wildfire-fighting equipment made with POSCO steel to clear debris from the streamside in preparation for heavy rain and wildfires.

The group also held a demonstration with local fire department personnel of an AI-based wildfire detection system using advanced CCTV cameras and drones, which it plans to introduce by the end of this year, strengthening the community's wildfire response capabilities.

Employees partnered with AI healthcare company ARK to conduct health screenings for elderly villagers who have difficulty visiting hospitals, checking key health indicators — including blood pressure, blood sugar, cardiovascular health and cognitive function — through an AI platform.

This year's activities were also linked with "Change My Town," a participatory program under the POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation — funded by employees' 1% salary donations — that identifies and renovates aging community spaces, amplifying the impact of both initiatives.

POSCO Group affiliates also plan to carry out home repairs and pathway leveling for vulnerable households and to provide rehabilitation equipment to support musculoskeletal health and physical activity. Overseas operations in Vietnam and Myanmar will continue locally tailored volunteer work, including refurbishing children's play facilities and improving educational environments at schools for the visually impaired through IT infrastructure support.

"Global Volunteer Week is a meaningful time when POSCO Group employees around the world come together as one to practice the spirit of sharing," a POSCO Holdings corporate social responsibility official said. "We will continue to listen to the voices of local communities and carry out social contribution activities that provide real, tangible help."

Since founding the POSCO Volunteer Corps in May 2003, POSCO Group has worked to spread its culture of giving to those in need, sustaining its social contribution efforts through the POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation, which is funded by voluntary employee donations matched by the company.

POSCO Group recently launched POSCO Hope Bridge, a foundation dedicated to supporting the swift social recovery of industrial accident workers and their families, committing 25 billion won (about $16.4 million) in funding over the next five years — part of the group's broad engagement in corporate social responsibility across multiple areas.