"Planting People Like Trees" SK, Honoring Chairman Choi Jong-hyun's Will, Plants Commitment to Net Zero on Mt. Indeungsan

SK Opens Digital Exhibition Hall at Indeungsan, the Birthplace of ESG Management,
Showcasing Commitment to Net-Zero Management

Augmented Reality Highlights Carbon Reduction Plans Targeted for 2030

SK's ESG Management Began with Reforestation and Talent Development,
Expanding Overseas to Carbon Emission Trading and Desertification Prevention

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] In the 1970s, the barren slopes of Indeungsan in Chungju, Chungbuk, were transformed by the late Choi Jong-hyun, former SK chairman, who bent his waist alongside the late Mrs. Park Gye-hee. Chairman Choi, who painstakingly excavated the rocky mid-slope of Indeungsan and carried soil to plant saplings, is said to have repeatedly said, "We must nurture trees as we nurture people, and nurture people as we nurture trees."

Chairman Choi, who was deeply interested in talent development, started a reforestation project to secure funds for scholarship programs, leading to the establishment of SK Forestry (formerly Seohae Development). This year marks the 50th anniversary of SK Forestry.

In the early days of the reforestation project, company executives suggested "doing business around the metropolitan area," but Chairman Choi refused, saying, "I am not in the land business," and "If metropolitan development expands, the trees we have carefully nurtured will become useless." The reforested land currently owned by SK Forestry nationwide is about 4,500 hectares (approximately 13.61 million pyeong). The once barren mountain 50 years ago has transformed into a dense forest with 4 million trees, about 40 times the size of Namsan in Seoul.

The profits from the reforestation project were used as scholarships to nurture outstanding talents. In 1974, the former chairman donated his private funds to establish the Korea Higher Education Foundation, providing full scholarships covering tuition and living expenses so students could focus solely on their studies. The former chairman is regarded as the pioneer of SK's ESG management for preserving the environment through reforestation and nurturing outstanding talents to contribute to society.

The late Choi Jong-hyun, Chairman of SK Group, is planting a tree on Indeungsan Mountain in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do, in 1977 with his wife, Mrs. Park Gye-hee. Photo by SK Supex Council

Digital Exhibition Hall Opened to Embody Commitment to Net Zero Management

SK Group reaffirmed its commitment to 'Net Zero' management by presenting a roadmap for carbon reduction at Indeungsan in Chungju, the starting point of its ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) management.

On the 16th, SK Group announced, "We have opened a digital exhibition hall at Indeungsan in Chungju that visualizes the amount of carbon SK plans to reduce by 2030 and the implementation plans," adding, "As it is opened in a symbolic space of the group's ESG management, we will use this as an opportunity to accelerate carbon-neutral management."

SK Group resolved last year to achieve net zero management earlier than the global carbon neutrality target year (2050). The plan is to reduce 1% (200 million tons) of the global carbon reduction target (21 billion tons) by 2030 to accelerate net zero management. Net zero means that the total carbon emissions and removals balance out to zero net emissions.

SK Group opened the 'Green Forest Pavilion' exhibition hall on Indeungsan Mountain in Chungju, Chungbuk, showcasing its plans and commitment to net-zero management. The exhibition hall is themed around Indeungsan Mountain and the birch forest. At the center of the hall, a 'Tree of Life' symbolizing sustainable growth has been installed. Photo by SK Supex Council

SK has set a goal to reduce 37.3 million tons of carbon by 2030 by building an eco-friendly energy ecosystem with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power and energy storage systems. It also presented a roadmap to reduce 16.5 million tons by building AI and semiconductor ecosystems with low-power semiconductors, 7.5 million tons by establishing next-generation battery and electric vehicle battery ecosystems, and 6.7 million tons by creating a plastic recycling ecosystem through urban oil field projects. To this end, SK also unveiled the networks and eco-friendly technology ecosystems it needs to build with global companies at home and abroad.

To realize this vision, SK Group has planned to build eco-friendly technology ecosystems across nine fields to reduce carbon emissions, and the newly opened 'Green Forest Pavilion' exhibition hall embodies these plans and commitments. The exhibition hall is themed around Indeungsan and the birch forest. At the center of the hall stands the 'Tree of Life,' symbolizing sustainable growth, surrounded by kiosks under the theme '9 Journeys,' which contain methodologies for achieving net zero.

By using a mobile docent (exhibition guide) to scan specific icons on the kiosks, visitors can view the nine eco-friendly technology ecosystems SK has built and the carbon reduction effects through augmented reality. A video titled 'SK Manifesto' is also screened, showing animals suffering from environmental pollution and devastated nature, urging participation in saving the Earth.

The saplings planted by Chairman Choi Jong-hyun in the 1970s have now grown into large trees with trunks so wide that a person must embrace them with both arms.

Project to Build Forestry-Based Carbon Emission Trading Platform Underway

SK Group's ESG management began when the late Chairman Choi Jong-hyun established Seohae Development Co., Ltd. (now SK Forestry) in 1972. Later, Chairman Chey Tae-won incorporated SK Forestry, which was under SK Construction (now SK Ecoplant) in 2012, into the holding company SK Inc., transforming it into a global company securing carbon emission rights and conducting reforestation projects overseas.

In 2012, SK started a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) reforestation project by planting 250,000 birch and other trees on a wasteland 70 times the size of a soccer field in Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province. CDM is a project that measures the greenhouse gases absorbed by forests restored through reforestation and recognizes carbon emission rights. In 2013, SK became the first company in Korea to secure carbon emission rights by receiving final approval from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Additionally, SK is conducting carbon-neutral forest cooperation projects targeting four domestic reforestation sites (4,500 hectares) including Indeungsan and public and private forests nationwide. This project measures the amount of carbon reduced through reforestation, certifies it as carbon emission rights, and trades them to help companies and the public achieve carbon neutrality while providing income sources to forest owners.

SK expects that the currently operating carbon-neutral forest cooperation project will absorb 43,000 tons of carbon annually over the next 30 years. Based on this, SK plans to build a platform for trading carbon emission rights, creating a virtuous cycle structure that simultaneously pursues environmental conservation and value creation.

The late Choi Jong-hyun, Chairman of SK Group, planting trees on Indeungsan. Photo by SK Supex Council

'K-Forest Story' Expanded Overseas

SK is also securing carbon emission rights overseas. It has secured carbon emission rights through the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) project protecting tropical rainforests in Papua New Guinea and the ARR (Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation) project planting trees in Sri Lanka, and is promoting carbon emission rights acquisition projects in Vietnam and the Philippines.

Moreover, SK is creating a global 'K-Forest' story by restoring degraded forests and preventing desertification through reforestation projects in Navoi, Uzbekistan; cork oak forest restoration in Tunisia; and rural community development in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam.

An SK official said, "The management philosophy of the late Chairman Choi Jong-hyun, who devoted himself to nurturing trees and talents with the view that corporate profits belong to society from the start, has become the fertile soil enriching SK's ESG management today," adding, "We will create more social value on the global stage using forests as a theme."