Samsung establishes initiatives for multicultural families, older adults

Samsung Electronics will launch a new range of social responsibility initiatives for children from multicultural families and older adults with limited access to digital devices.

Cheil Worldwide CEO Kim Jong-hyun, Save the Children Korea chairman Oh Joon, Kim Hyun-jun, the head of Health Ministry’s population policy division, Community Chest of Korea Chairman Kim Byong-joon, Lee Ki-min, the head of Korea Elder Protection Agency and S-1 CEO Namgoong Beom pose for a photo at the inauguration ceremony of the launch of new social responsibility initiatives held at Raemian Gallery in southern Seoul on Wednesday. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics will launch a new range of social responsibility initiatives for children from multicultural families and older adults with limited access to digital devices.

The company already has an array of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs up and running, such as Samsung Innovation Campus which collaborates with universities to help students develop their digital skills, or the Samsung Guide Dog School for the visually impaired, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in September. This time, Samsung subsidiaries Cheil Worldwide and S-1 will roll out two new programs in line with the company's CSR vision of “Together for Tomorrow! Enabling People.”

“Samsung Electronics has been on the front line of resolving social polarization, and now we extend our support [to the disadvantaged] reflecting Korea’s multicultural society as the country rapidly approaches a super-aged society,” said Cheil Worldwide CEO Kim Jong-hyun at the inauguration ceremony of the two programs held at Raemian Gallery in southern Seoul Wednesday. “These two programs were selected out of some 900 ideas about new social responsibility initiatives from Samsung employees, and we were able to make them a reality with the help of experts and NGOs [nongovernmental organizations].

“Much like our vision, we hope to enable people to truly become part of this society. As Korean society becomes more ethnically diverse and digitalized, we hope to support such teens by opening up classes that can look after their physical and mental health, and for the older adults to gain autonomy as they maneuver through the tech-driven world.”

The population of teens from multicultural families is steadily on the rise, up some 37 percent to 68,000 in 2022 from 2018’s 122,000, according to data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. And the 2021 survey conducted by the Gender Ministry polled 32,000 multicultural households and 19.2 percent of children aged between 7 and 18 responded that they have felt depressed for over two weeks during the year.

Cheil Worldwide collaborates with the NGO Save the Children Korea to launch sports classes for teens, which will annually gather 300 students from elementary and middle schools starting next March. The program strategy is three-pronged: One will consist of sports instructors as they teach students sports games such as football and basketball. Summer camps will also open annually.

Another will be hosted by Samsung employees as they run 90 sports clubs in various sports categories to regularly host contests with the children. These clubs will also run mentoring sessions for children in need of career guidance.

Lastly, Cheil Worldwide will open a program consisting of counselors to care for teens struggling with depression and anxiety.

As Korea approaches a super-aged society nearing 10 million older adults aged over 65, S-1 will launch a program dubbed “senior digital academy” to help them adjust to the digitalized society. The company will collaborate with the Korea Elder Protection Agency and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to annually gather 150 older adults living on a basic pension and provide private tutoring sessions. Volunteers associated with the NGO will visit the homes of older people, educating them on basic necessities such as issuing digital documents, using kiosks, digital banking and how to use their smartphones. It will also open a digital education center for the participants, where S-1 employees will assist them in maneuvering digital devices.

It will also collaborate with the Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the aged to create new jobs that older adults can be part of related to digital device usage and educate them accordingly.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]