Yuhan Corporation Launches Social Innovation Program 'Yoo Ilhan Academy'

Youth-Led Project to Tackle Health and Welfare Challenges

Yuhan Corporation announced on the 10th that it has launched the youth social innovation program 'Yoo Ilhan Academy'.

Participants of the youth social innovation program 'Yoo Ilhan Academy,' hosted by Yuhan Corporation on the 8th in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, are taking a commemorative photo. Yuhan Corporation

'Yoo Ilhan Academy' is a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) program designed to carry on the spirit of the company's founder, Dr. Yoo Ilhan, and to help young people create real change based on expertise in the pharmaceutical and bio industries.

A total of 103 university students and job seekers applied for the program, and after a document screening and interviews, 30 final participants were selected. The selected participants will spend five weeks, from July 8 to August 12, engaging in a variety of weekly curricula to explore social issues in the health and welfare sectors and design solutions.

On July 8, the first day of the program, an opening ceremony was held at Heyground in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, officially marking the launch of 'Yoo Ilhan Academy'. The event was attended by Mincheol Cho, Executive Director of ESG Management at Yuhan Corporation, Changnam Choi, President of Hope Friends Gfoundation, Yoonkon Kim, CEO of The Better Future, Sunja Park, Director of Ginger Tea Project, and other representatives from partner organizations, who encouraged the participants and shared the program's vision.

This was followed by a special lecture from Professor Hoyoung Lee of the Department of Health Administration at Yonsei University. During the lecture, participants gained deep insights into the life of Dr. Yoo Ilhan, his entrepreneurial spirit, and the meaning of social responsibility.

After the lecture, a workshop was held in which each group explored health and welfare issues and identified challenges, focusing on various vulnerable groups such as the elderly, infants and young children, adolescents, youth, multicultural families, and people with disabilities. Through this process, participants selected tasks such as the issue of polypharmacy, care for dementia patients, regional disparities in pediatric healthcare, adolescent smoking and mental health, accessibility of medical institutions for people with disabilities, and medical treatment for undocumented migrant children.

Going forward, participants will analyze these tasks from multiple perspectives through a practice-oriented curriculum that includes expert lectures, field visits, practitioner interviews, and design thinking workshops. They will work to develop creative and sustainable solutions.

Ukje Cho, CEO of Yuhan Corporation, said, "I hope young people will discover their own potential and sense of social responsibility through the process of defining and solving social problems themselves," adding, "Yuhan Corporation will continue to discover and support young talents who realize social value, based on Dr. Yoo Ilhan's philosophy."