[Screenshot from the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency website]
[Screenshot from the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency website]

Nine public institutions based in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, including the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, will jointly pursue social contribution activities that residents can directly feel — among them expanding public procurement channels for social enterprises and improving the local environment.

The Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency announced Monday that the Seongnam Public Institutions Council, which brings together the nine Seongnam-based institutions, has established a joint environmental, social and governance (ESG) action plan for 2026 and will move forward in earnest with cooperative efforts to benefit the local community.

The council's member institutions are the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Korea Institute of Design Promotion, Korea Petroleum Management Institute, Korea Foundation of Nuclear Safety, Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities, Korea District Heating, Korea Job World and the Academy of Korean Studies.

The council was launched in December 2020 to address local challenges by pooling the expertise and resources of Seongnam-based public institutions. Since then, it has jointly pursued local economic revitalization, job creation and social contribution activities. This year, the council has set "community-centered social contribution" and "local economic revitalization" as its key priorities, with 12 joint activities planned across ESG areas.

On the environmental front, seven member institutions will hold a plogging event along the Tancheon riverside on Sept. 30.

Social initiatives will focus on boosting the local economy. The council will run a matching program connecting Seongnam-based social solidarity economy enterprises and businesses producing goods made by people with severe disabilities with public institutions eligible for preferential purchasing. A project called "Mentor's Mentor Vol. 3" will also provide career and employment mentoring to university students volunteering at local study centers.

In particular, the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency will co-organize a public procurement consultation event linking social solidarity economy enterprises in Seongnam with public institutions. The aim is to help those enterprises secure public institutions as new sales channels, thereby contributing to local economic revitalization.

Alongside this, the council will participate in an AI practical exchange network, youth intern education and volunteer activities, a data council and joint tasks on ethical management. The Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency plans to co-lead one of the 12 joint projects this year and participate in seven others.

On the governance front, the council plans to strengthen accountability and transparency among local public institutions through inter-agency exchanges between public audit bodies, the operation of an advisory body to prevent conflicts of interest, and joint initiatives related to anti-solicitation regulations.

"Cooperation among public institutions is a vital foundation for creating social value that communities can genuinely feel," Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency President Jeong Seung-guk said. "The agency will continue to work with the Seongnam Public Institutions Council to expand the links between public institutions and social enterprises, and to sustain cooperation for local mutual growth."


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