[Harumanbo Harucheonja] "Lost 13kg by walking... The long-awaited baby has arrived"

Sangsangin Plus Park Misu Junior
Story of Uploading Fetal Ultrasound Photo on Manbo Certification Board

Group-Level Health Promotion and ESG Activities
Five Sessions Conducted Since 2021

In the fall of 2021, an ultrasound image of a fetus was submitted to a walking photo contest held for the employees of the SangSangIn Group. Since the contest was organized at the group level to promote walking exercises among employees, most participants uploaded photos of themselves walking diligently. However, the fetal photo stood out among many entries and was proudly selected as an outstanding work. At first glance, this photo seemed unrelated to the theme, so what connection did it have with walking?

Ultrasound photo by Park Misu, Assistant Manager at Sangsangin Plus, uploaded to the Sangsangin Group Walking Photo Contest.
[Photo by Sangsangin Group]

The person who uploaded the fetal photo was Assistant Manager Park Misu, who works in the Marketing Customer Support Team at SangSangIn Plus. Through the walking project conducted by the SangSangIn Group, Assistant Manager Park was able to conceive a child she had long awaited. By consistently walking, she lost about 13 kg, improving her health, which naturally led to pregnancy. Having given birth to a healthy baby, Assistant Manager Park has now become a 10-month-old mother.

The SangSangIn Group has been implementing a walking project since 2021. The initiative aims to improve employees' health while also reducing carbon footprints to contribute to environmental protection. Specifically, under the slogan "Protect the health of my body and the Earth together," the project encourages walking in daily life by using stairs within buildings, walking short distances to and from work, and using public transportation for longer commutes. Various events were planned to encourage voluntary participation from employees. Representative events include "Family Day," where employees and their families use an app that automatically tracks steps and receive cash prizes upon reaching a certain number of steps; "1+1 Day," which rewards half-days off and cash prizes when walking with colleagues; and "Coupon Day," which gives gift coupons to those who walk more than 7,777 steps on specific days.

Assistant Manager Park initially joined the walking project for the benefits such as prizes offered by the company. However, she later participated voluntarily, motivated by the health benefits. She experienced her body becoming lighter and fatigue significantly decreasing through consistent walking. At work, she was able to relieve stress by walking with colleagues during lunch breaks. She also felt a sense of self-efficacy as she developed the ability to manage her own body.

Sangsangin Plus Junior Manager Park Misu (left) and Junior Manager Park's family (right). [Photo by Sangsangin Group]

Walking also improved her relationship with her family. To meet her step goals, she spent time walking with her husband in the evenings after work. Even now, after having a child, Assistant Manager Park continues to walk daily and enjoys spending time with her family. She explained, "When you engage in walking exercise, you gain good physical strength and positive thoughts. As a result, you become brighter and kinder to your family and those around you."

Assistant Manager Park is not the only one who experienced the benefits of walking. Over 4,000 employees of the SangSangIn Group participated in the walking project. The total number of participants across the group reached 4,379, with a cumulative step count of 2,463,000,000 steps. Combined, the employees walked the equivalent of 43 laps around the Earth. The health of participating employees also improved noticeably. About 74% of employees who took part in Season 1 of the walking project lost more than 1 kg. Some employees lost up to 16 kg through the project. Environmental protection was also practiced. The reduction in carbon dioxide emissions due to employees' walking amounted to approximately 416 tons, equivalent to planting 63,026 pine trees.

Assistant Manager Park used the walking community app "WalkOn" to walk with colleagues from the group companies. She recorded her daily steps on the app using a smartwatch that tracks exercise, and these recorded steps were shared within the WalkOn community composed of SangSangIn Group employees. The community allowed members to see not only individual step counts but also vivid walking experiences shared by employees. This created mutual motivation. To increase her step count, Assistant Manager Park arrived at work early to walk before starting her duties and walked for an hour every day with her family after work. Her accumulated daily average step count reached 15,000 steps.

When asked if she had any advice for those considering joining the walking exercise, Assistant Manager Park strongly recommended participation, saying, "Worrying only delays the time." She encouraged walking 10,000 steps a day with these words.

"Starting today, try walking 10,000 steps a day whenever you can. You will be able to feel the effects in many ways right before your eyes."

[Image provided by Sangsangin Group]