Yuhan-Kimberly, South Korea’s leading sanitary product manufacturer, ranked fifth on a list of South Korea’s most admired companies, making it to the top 10 for 16 straight years, according to a survey released by Korea management Association Consulting this week.

By segment, the company ranked first in terms of social value and first in household goods business, according to the survey of around 10,000 local consumers and professionals. 

Yuhan-Kimberly was set up in 1970 as a joint company of US-based paper company Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Korean pharmaceutical company Yuhan Corp. It currently produces and sells Huggies baby diapers, Good Feel sanitary napkins, Kleenex tissues, Scott paper towels and Green Finger skin care products. It has the largest share in the local market for diapers, sanitary napkins, facial tissues and paper towels.

The firm’s most notable campaign is its tree-planting “Keep Korea Green” campaign, which started in 1984. So far, it has planted more than 50 million trees in national forests and public forests, and planted forests in more than 700 schools.

Recently, it created a pilot tree nursery in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, to produce 360,000 saplings per year in an effort to recover forests in North Korea. 

In addition, Yuhan-Kimberly has helped restore forests in Mongolia, together with the Northeast Asian Forest Forum, since 2003. The local government had asked the firm to take part in the project, as desertification had occurred in the Tujin Nars forests of the Selenge province due to forest fires. Over 10 million trees have since been planted.

Alongside the green campaign, the company also participates in social activities to contribute to society. Since 2016, it has provided sanitary napkins and baby diapers to women and teenagers in need. Last year alone, it gave 1.4 million sanitary napkins and 880,000 baby diapers to women, and 100,000 face masks for the elderly, amid growing concerns over fine dust here. 

Yuhan-Kimberly has also launched campaigns to empower the elderly. Since 2012, it has created funds and programs to help seniors find jobs and business opportunities. Furthermore, the firm has selected some small companies to help them in the areas of market research, technology development, professional consulting and participation in international exhibitions. So far, it has backed a total of 33 senior businesses and created more than 450 jobs.

“Our social activities are efforts to repay the support our clients have shown to our products since 1970. We will continue to make efforts to better help society together with our clients,” said a spokesperson of the company.

Yuhan-Kimberly is also known for its smart work management that encourages work flexibility and efficiency, becoming a role model for other firms.

In 2011, the firm adopted smart-work programs, such as building an electronic approval system and mobile conference system, to better allow working from home and mobile working. It has built six smart-work centers nationwide to help employees work near their homes.

Since the adoption of the system, the concentration of employees has risen 14 percent and communication among employees has improved 30 percent, according to the firm. Last year, Yuhan-Kimberly was selected by the Labor Ministry as a company that is best at helping employees achieve work-life balance. 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)