By Yi Whan-woo
Korea Securities Depository (KSD) is broadening its corporate social responsibility initiatives to tackle five social, economic and environmental challenges that Korea faces.
The challenges include limited job opportunities for young people, economic decline in rural areas due to depopulation, increasing poverty among older adults, intense competition for university admissions and rising greenhouse gas emissions.
Concerning jobs for young people, the Busan-headquartered KSD has been expanding its vocational program for university students in Busan to help them land jobs at the depository.
The program aims to promote the depository, which is responsible for the central custody of securities, as well as for book-entry transfers and the settlement of securities transactions.
The program is currently in its sixth consecutive year, having been launched in 2019 with participation from five universities and 25 students.
For its sixth edition in 2024, the program has expanded to include 12 universities and 30 students.
In addition, the KSD has been offering a scholarship for university students in Busan since 2022. The scholarship amounts to 1.98 billion won ($1.44 million) over a 10-year period.
Despite being the second-largest city in the country, Busan is not immune to the economic decline currently affecting rural areas, as the nation’s GDP is heavily reliant on Seoul.
In response to these circumstances, the KSD donated 750 million won from 2018 to 2023 to the Busan ESG Fund, which was formed in 2018 to help revitalize the city’s economy.
The depository is among nine Busan-headquartered institutions, which donated a combined 6.34 billion won to the fund.
The depository was also the official sponsor of this year’s Busan International Film Festival, which has evolved into one of Asia’s most influential gatherings of filmmakers and film screenings since its inception in 1996.
To tackle poverty among older adults, the KSD has been donating gift certificates that can be used as cash to the Korean Red Cross since 2011.
The gift certificates are presented to older adults in Seoul and Busan to buy groceries on the country’s two major traditional holidays — Seollal and Chuseok.
Another issue the KSD seeks to address is the intense competition among students in schools regarding college admissions.
To support students’ emotional well-being, the KSD collaborated with 12 middle and high schools in Busan to establish a trail on their respective campuses. The project ran from 2018 to 2023.
In alignment with the carbon neutrality goals of the government and the United Nations, the KSD is working to establish new forests in Pyeongchang and Wonju, both located in Gangwon Province.
Each project is scheduled to last for 30 years, with the Pyeongchang initiative running from 2012 to 2042 and the Wonju initiative from 2022 to 2052.
The planned forest in Pyeongchang will cover 2.5 hectares and is expected to absorb 756 tons of carbon dioxide over the 30-year period.
In Wonju, a forest of 9.3 hectares is planned, which will absorb 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide over the same duration.
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