At the 25th Iron Day Event
Jang In-hwa, Chairman of the Korea Iron & Steel Association (Chairman of POSCO Group), is delivering a commemorative speech at the Steel Day event held on the 3rd at POSCO Center in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jeong Dong-hoon
Jang In-hwa, Chairman of the Korea Iron & Steel Association (and Chairman of POSCO Group), emphasized, "Let's turn the current crisis into an opportunity through proactive response and win-win cooperation with the demand industry."
At the 25th Steel Day commemorative event held on the 3rd at the POSCO Center in Daechi-dong, Seoul, Chairman Jang stated, "The steel industry is facing a challenging situation due to the transition to a low-carbon economy and ongoing uncertainties in the trade environment." To overcome the crisis, he said, "We must faithfully respond to the era's demand for a transition to eco-friendly practices and achieve a rapid shift to a low-carbon, eco-friendly steel production system." He added, "The government, association, and companies must act as one team to closely monitor developments on current issues and share information, while actively voicing our opinions to major countries to ensure that trade support is minimized through wise responses."
'Steel Day' commemorates the first molten iron produced at the POSCO Pohang Steelworks blast furnace on June 9, 1973, with commemorative ceremonies held since 2000. At this event attended by about 200 people including Jang In-hwa, Chairman of the Korea Iron & Steel Association, steel industry officials, and government representatives, awards were presented to 31 Steel Day meritorious persons and 5 steel award recipients. Additionally, a Steel ESG Win-Win Fund agreement was signed to support the activation of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management and decarbonization for mid-sized and small steel companies.
In his congratulatory speech, Jung In-kyo, Director General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, highly praised the steel industry for its efforts toward coexistence and innovation despite difficult circumstances, stating, "The government will also work jointly with the industry to promote measures such as fostering the steel scrap industry to secure iron resources, demonstrating hydrogen reduction steelmaking technology, and actively responding to steel trade barriers to achieve carbon neutrality and supply chain stabilization in the steel industry."
At the event, a total of 31 government awards were presented, including the Silver Tower Industrial Medal awarded to Ryu Ho-chang, Chairman of Han Geum, and the Bronze Tower Industrial Medal awarded to Lee Sang-ho, Executive Director of POSCO. Chairman Ryu Ho-chang received the Silver Tower Industrial Medal for his contributions to the localization of high-carbon steel and the development of automotive material technology. Executive Director Lee Sang-ho was recognized for his role in establishing a locally optimized system at the integrated steelworks in Indonesia and received the Bronze Tower Industrial Medal. Additionally, Lim Mu-young, Managing Director of Hyundai Steel, who contributed to securing competitiveness in the steel industry by optimizing production and process management and expanding production, received the Industrial Medal, and Kang Hee-jun, CEO of Youngheung, who laid the foundation for global expansion and contributed to securing new orders, received the Presidential Citation.
Furthermore, Jung Jin-young, Senior Researcher at Korea Steel, who contributed to Korea Steel's growth as the No.1 domestic and No.2 global special wire rod company through product development, and Hwang Byung-chul, Professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, who contributed to research advancement in the steel and metal field, received the Prime Minister's Citation. Twenty-five others, including Kim Sung-il, Executive Director of KG Steel, received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Citation.
The Steel Award, established in 1982 by the Korea Iron & Steel Association Chairman to encourage research and development motivation and on-site technology advancement among steel technology and function workers, was awarded to five recipients including Kim Jae-hoon, Senior Researcher at POSCO. The Steel Technology Award was given to Kim Jae-hoon for his contribution to the development and mass production of a new high-grade non-oriented electrical steel sheet for eco-friendly vehicle drive motors. The Steel Function Award was awarded to Sung Song-geun, Manager at POSCO, for his contribution to the development of automation technology for the three steelmaking processes by applying video and AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology. The Steel Technology Encouragement Award was given to Lee Chang-yong, Senior Researcher at Hyundai Steel, and Seo Seok-min, Senior Researcher at SeAH Besteel, while the Steel Function Encouragement Award was awarded to Kim Yong-jae, Senior Engineer at Hyundai Steel.
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