'A miracle at the kiosk': 108,000 Samsung employees join annual giving campaign

"Hansol was diagnosed with an intellectual disability and needed ongoing treatment and support. Samsung Electronics' help gave Hansol the chance to receive treatment, and gave me the strength to believe in my child's potential and keep waiting." — Hansol's mother

Samsung held its "2026 Nanum Day" event Thursday at the DSR Tower of Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong campus, sharing the results of donation, blood donation and volunteer activities that employees carried out during the "Nanum Week" campaign.

About 100 people attended, including Rebuilding Korea Party lawmaker Kim Seon-min, Reform Party lawmaker Lee Jun-seok, Save the Children Korea Secretary General Jeong Tae-yeong, GoodNeighbors domestic operations head Kwon Min-jeong, ChildFund Korea social contribution cooperation head Shin Jeong-won, Korean Red Cross blood management head Kwon So-yeong, and Samsung Electronics System LSI Division President Park Yong-in.

Over the past two weeks, more than 108,000 employees at 23 Samsung affiliates in South Korea took part in giving activities — donating through Nanum kiosks, joining blood donation campaigns and volunteering in communities near their worksites.

Hansol's mother, whose family received special support through the Nanum kiosk program, attended the Nanum Day event in person to express her gratitude to employees.

"With Samsung Electronics' support, I was able to provide my child with the treatment needed and create a stable environment," she said. "In February, after a comprehensive psychological evaluation at the hospital, we received the almost unbelievable news that Hansol's IQ had risen 16 points — from 56 to 72."

The Nanum kiosk, which marked its 10th anniversary last year, is a donation platform that processes a 1,000-won contribution each time an employee taps an ID card. Launched in 2015 at Samsung Electronics' Gumi campus, it has since benefited 5,137 children and raised a cumulative 14.46 billion won ($10.8 million).

Samsung's 23 affiliates currently operate 156 Nanum kiosks — 113 in South Korea and 43 overseas. This year, the company ran a special fundraising drive during Nanum Week targeting 20 children, with a goal of 10 million won per child. Over the 10 weekdays of the campaign, a total of 300 million won was raised.

Samsung employees also joined blood donation campaigns held at worksites nationwide during Nanum Week. Since the blood drive program began in 1996, a cumulative 450,000 employees have participated.

Samsung executives have also supported blood donation infrastructure. In January 2022, they raised more than 10 billion won from a special bonus fund and have since donated four blood donation buses each year. Twenty buses have been delivered through this year, with a total of 40 planned.

Volunteers also carried out a range of activities near their worksites, including tutoring children at community centers and cleaning animal shelters. DS Division Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun and DX Division President Roh Tae-moon both took part.

This year's Nanum Day event also featured the first-ever donation ceremony for the Nanum Store program, a corporate social responsibility initiative run jointly by management and labor.

Under the Nanum Store model, when employees patronize designated shops near their worksites, those shops donate a portion of their sales to charity. The program has established itself as a community-based CSR model built on mutual benefit.

The program currently operates at 22 worksites across 17 Samsung affiliates — including Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung Display and Samsung SDI — with 370 restaurants, cafes and other businesses participating.

At Thursday's ceremony, President Park, Samsung Electronics union chapter head Choi Seung-ho and participating Nanum Store owners presented donations to Save the Children, GoodNeighbors and ChildFund Korea.

Samsung describes its CSR activities not as charity but as a reciprocal effort for shared growth, continuing through an employee-led model in which staff plan and participate in the programs themselves.

"We ran Nanum Week for two weeks starting from our founding anniversary on Nov. 1, with all affiliates and overseas subsidiaries joining in," Park said. "This year is especially meaningful because the Nanum Store program — a labor-management CSR initiative — has expanded to all affiliates."

"I expect the Nanum Store to become another successful CSR model that spreads a culture of community-based mutual growth," Park added.