SKT·유한킴벌리, 안동 산불 피해지에 1500그루 식재 > NEWS

[Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Shin Hyo-ryeong = SK Telecom and Yuhan-Kimberly have launched a forest creation initiative to restore wildfire-affected areas.

SK Telecom announced on the 5th that it held a tree-planting activity the previous day with Yuhan-Kimberly in Pungcheon-myeon, Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, to create a “Peace Forest” in wildfire-damaged areas.

Pungcheon-myeon suffered severe damage from a large wildfire in March last year, and urgent ecosystem restoration is needed.

About 100 employees and their families from both companies participated in the event. Participants planted a total of 1,500 trees, including rare species designated by the Korea Forest Service, such as Hovenia dulcis, Abeliophyllum distichum, and Iris odaesanensis—plants that serve as food sources for bees—contributing to the recovery of the forest ecosystem.

This activity is part of an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) partnership agreement signed in September last year to strengthen joint initiatives. The two companies have been collaborating across various areas, including forest creation in wildfire-affected regions, resource circulation campaigns, and joint marketing.

The companies plan to plant a total of 10,000 trees over five years by 2030. In particular, they aim to implement a more systematic and long-term forest restoration strategy using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The project is being carried out in collaboration with the forest restoration NGO “Peace Forest.”

SK Telecom is also accelerating technology-based restoration efforts. In partnership with the ecological restoration startup InvaLab, the company is using drones to capture images of wildfire-affected areas and applying AI analysis to precisely identify the ecological characteristics of restoration sites.

Eom Jong-hwan, Head of ESG at SK Telecom, stated, “This tree-planting activity marks the first step toward restoring wildfire-damaged areas in Andong. We will continue to leverage our AI capabilities to lead ecosystem restoration and scientific forest management, as well as address various environmental challenges facing our society.”