A group of volunteers among the employees for Shinhan Life Insurance Co. delivers coal briquettes to the residents in poor neighborhoods in Seoul under the “Warm Love Sharing Social Service” campaign of the life insurance firm.(Photo: Shinhan Life Insurance)

"Warm Love Sharing Social Service” is the name of the Shinhan Life Insurance Co.’s social service program that the company conducted in Samsung-dong, southern Seoul Jan. 2 to help old people living alone in the area stay warm during the winter.

The life insurance firm has been holding the event every year since 2011 and this year some 20 employees of the company, including a number of new employees, joined the event. A three-man team delivered kimchi to around 100 senior residents living alone in the area and spent time with them, sharing stories about charitable works to make them feel good as they set out to begin another year before wrapping up the event.

An officer in charge of the event for the company said there are more senior citizens living alone than before who have a hard time keeping themselves warm during the winter. “We hope that our social service event would be of some help to those economically isolated people in spending the cold season and we will continue to hold such events to help them to spend the cold season warm,” he said. 

The life insurance firm has been conducting such charitable social work every quarter. Last year, the company held a total of 273 social service events in which some 5,700 employees took turns participating.  

Shinhan Life Insurance Co., Ltd. offers life insurance services in South Korea. It provides insurance products including life insurance, pension insurance, private health insurance, savings insurance and other financial plans for individual customers. 

The company also provides loan products. It operates 205 branches. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in Seoul, South Korea. As of December 13, 2005, Shinhan Life Insurance Co., Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group Company Limited. “Based on Shinhan Life’s basic spirit that only the company that is considerate of customers and society can maintain continuous growth, we are implementing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) management by selecting themes by quarter,” according to the company. 

In the first quarter, it selected ‘volunteer activities on the anniversary of foundation’ as the theme to donate blood, provide free lunches to senior citizens who live alone, donate “cakes of love” and donate money raised to help pediatric cancer and leukemia patients. 

In the second quarter, the theme was ‘Shinhan Financial Group’s Volunteer Festival’ where the affiliate’s employees implemented the group’s philosophy to fulfill social contribution by participating in diverse volunteer activity programs, including cultural heritage protection activity, harmful plant removal activities, tree planting and vegetable garden box sharing. 

In the third quarter, the theme was ‘Shinhan Life’s 1004 Day’, which implemented a nation-wide relay volunteer activity and street campaign, as well as a social contribution photo exhibition and donation signing ceremony. 

The nation-wide relay volunteer activity started with the volunteer activity of giving free lunch of love in the Seoul region, participated by approximately 400 employees from October to November of each year. The theme for the 4th quarter was ‘helping financially marginalized neighbors’, which shared kimchi and briquette, supported quilt with cotton to senior citizens living alone, gave lunch to poorly-fed children and provided scholarship to youngsters.

Shinhan Life released insurance products for the socially disadvantaged.

Shinhan Life Insurance developed the ‘Shinhan Hope and Love Insurance’, which is a small amount of insurance to support the low-income class who have difficulty in receiving insurance benefits. It provides coverage on risks through the contribution from dormant insurances, including various diseases and disasters and fatal accidents. 

“Also, we provide discount benefits on premiums for multi-child families, the disabled and low-income class. In particular, the preferential special support provided for the disabled was chosen as the best practice of developing public interest products,” the company said. 

In order to create a warm-hearted world of living together with the financially marginalized citizens neighbors, Shinhan Life Insurance said it strives to implement “the sharing of love” and to strengthen the insurance capabilities.