GS Caltex Sponsors Non-Face-to-Face Marathon Supporting Independence Activists

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] GS Caltex (CEO Heo Se-hong, photo) announced on the 13th that it will participate as a sponsoring company in the 2021 Virtual 815 Run campaign organized by Habitat for Humanity Korea. This event, held for the second time this year following last year, is a non-face-to-face marathon held to reflect gratitude toward independence activists. All proceeds from the campaign, including corporate sponsorships and individual participation fees, will be used for improving the housing environment of the descendants of independence activists.

GS Caltex explained that it joined this campaign to carry on the patriotic spirit of the late Heo Man-jeong, the founder of the GS Group, who contributed to the independence movement under Japanese colonial rule. Heo Man-jeong participated in establishing Baeksan Sanghoe, which served as a financial source for the independence movement by supporting the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai. Believing that education was a priority for independence, he founded Jinju Ilsin Girls' High School, the predecessor of Jinju Girls' High School.

The company has been continuing the founder’s patriotic spirit by conducting campaigns such as the Independence Typeface campaign in 2019. This campaign restores the handwriting of independence activists, which remains only in some records, into modern digital fonts. They developed independence typefaces based on the handwriting of Yun Bong-gil, Han Yong-un, Kim Gu, Yun Dong-ju, and Ahn Jung-geun, and also produced video content depicting reenactments of the independence activists’ activities.