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KT&G creates KT&G Sangsang Forest in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do
2023.04.20
KT&G (CEO Baek Bok-in) is creating KT&G Sangsang Forest in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do to restore forests and the ecosystem damaged by the forest fire.
KT&G Sangsang Forest will be created this month on the land of 1.8 hectares (approximately 5,500 pyeong) in the Hwacheon-ri area of Bonghwa-gun, where a large forest fire occurred last year. 5,500 trees which provide nectar sources for bees will be planted. On April 19, KT&G hosted a ceremony at the forest site with Lee Sang-hak, Chief Director of KT&G Sustainability Management (Vice President), KT&G employees who provided the volunteer service, and officials from Bonghwa-gun and Baekdudaegan National Arboretum. The employee volunteer group planted trees after the ceremony.
The cost of creating the forest was entirely covered by Sangsang Fund, which was raised through donations from KT&G employees. Sangsang Fund is KT&G’s unique social fund launched in 2011. The fund is sourced through a matching grant, where the company matches the amount given by employees, as employees designate certain amounts to be donated from their monthly salaries.
Lee Sang-hak, Chief Director of KT&G Sustainability Management, said, “Hopefully, the activity of forest creation and tree planting will help the regrowth of the forest damaged by the fire with the expansion of the biodiversity.” He added, “Going forward, KT&G as a corporate citizen will actively involve itself in solving various environmental problems.”
Meanwhile, KT&G has participated in forest protection for 18 years since 2006 by planting trees in damaged forests and engaging in other activities. Since last year, KT&G created KT&G Sangsang Forest in Daegwanryeong, Gangwon-do, Ulan Bator, Mongolia and other places in South Korea and other countries, where the ecological system needs to be restored, and has contributed to the mitigation of the global climate crisis and the environmental protection.
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(Photo description1) KT&G (CEO Baek Bok-in) is building KT&G Sangsang Forest in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do to restore the forest and the ecosystem damaged by the forest fire. Lee Sang-hak, Chief Director of KT&G Sustainability Management Director (fourth from the right in the front row), Kwon Yong-dae, Director of Forest Protection Department of Bonghwa-gun (second from the right in the front row), and other officials take a group photo at the ceremony of the forest creation on April 19.
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(Photo description2) KT&G (CEO Baek Bok-in) is building KT&G Sangsang Forest in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do to help the preservation of the ecosystem and the restoration of the forest damaged in the forest fire. The group photo shows Lee Sang-hak, Chief Director of KT&G Sustainability Management (second from right), Kwon Yong-dae, Director of Forest Protection Department of Bonghwa-gun (first from the right), Ko Gyeong-chan, Director of Baekdu-daegan National Arboretum (second from the left), and Kim Hyung-soo, CEO of Tree Planet (first on the left) at the forest creation ceremony on April 19.
![image313.jpg](/imgEditorViewer?fpath=CM0048/image313.jpg
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(Photo description3) KT&G (CEO Baek Bok-in) is building KT&G Sangsang Forest in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do to help the preservation of the ecosystem and the restoration of the forest damaged in the forest fire. In the photo, the volunteer group of KT&G’s employees plants trees at the forest creation ceremony on April 19.
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