Korea Zinc's Onsan Smelter staff volunteer at disability care facility in Ulsan

Korea Zinc announced Friday that employees at its Onsan Smelter visited Suyeon Rehabilitation Center — a care and rehabilitation facility for children with severe disabilities in Ulju-gun, Ulsan — on Wednesday to carry out an environmental cleanup.

Jeon Hyeong-ryeol, secretary-general of the Korea Zinc labor union, and other employees took part on a voluntary basis. Participants cleaned common areas and living quarters on the first and second floors and tidied up rest spaces, working to create a more comfortable environment for the children who use the center.

The Onsan Smelter has conducted quarterly volunteer activities at the facility since signing a public-private volunteer partnership agreement with Ulsan last March, under a program pairing companies with welfare facilities for people with disabilities. In January, new recruits visited the center as part of their orientation training, and in March, employees volunteered alongside Ulsan city civil servants. Wednesday's visit was the third this year.

The company plans to continue providing tailored support for the facility's operations alongside the cleanup activities. It intends to maintain quarterly volunteer visits, strengthen cooperation with local welfare facilities and fulfill its corporate social responsibility.

"We are committed to ongoing, consistent action rather than one-time gestures, in order to fulfill our responsibilities as a corporate citizen," a Korea Zinc official said. "We will continue to engage with local welfare facilities together with labor and management, offer meaningful support to neighbors in need, and strive to grow alongside the community through ESG-based management."

Meanwhile, the Onsan Smelter has been active in a range of community initiatives, including adopting a stretch of beach near Ganjeolgot in Ulju-gun for environmental stewardship, running blood donation campaigns and donating rice to a senior welfare center in Ulju-gun. The smelter has been named a certified company for three consecutive years under the Community Contribution Recognition Program, administered by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Council of Social Welfare.

Last month, the smelter donated 2.9 metric tons of rice — 143 bags of 20 kilograms each, worth 10 million won ($6,650) — to a senior welfare center in southern Ulju-gun, as part of its ongoing social contribution efforts.