Handok (Chairman & CEO Young-jin Kim, Vice President Jin-ki Paik) was awarded the Presidential Commendation at the Folklore Theater Pungryu hosted by the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation on December 8, 2020. Handok became the first pharmaceutical company to receive the Presidential Commendation for its meritorious deeds in protecting cultural heritage.

Managed by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, the Award is the highest authoritative award related to cultural assets bestowed upon individuals or organizations that have contributed to the preservation, research, and utilization of cultural heritage.

After launching activities to protect living national treasures in 2009, Handok has not only led the way in protecting the health of these people who are masters of Important Intangible Cultural Heritage but also raised awareness of the importance and value of traditional culture. In 1964, it established the Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy to preserve and manage tangible cultural assets and opened this institution to the general public. These efforts were highly recognized and served as reasons for the Presidential Commendation.

Handok’s efforts to protect living national treasures, undertaken in collaboration with the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea and 11 hospitals nationwide, include offering yearly medical check-ups to living national treasures exposed to chronic illnesses due to their seniority in age. This program began in 2009 with the aspiration for traditional culture to continuously develop and be handed down through generations. To continuously offer medical check-ups to living national treasures, Handok constructed a new model in which a private company, government, and medical institution worked together. In addition to this, Handok engages in various activities to promote the health of living national treasures, such as providing vaccinations against influenza and pneumonia and delivering healthy functional foods.

Handok is also collaborating with living national treasures who have received the medical checkups to host classes and performances in which the general public can experience traditional culture. This year’s classes were held online due to Covid-19. Handok’s work in creating a new platform to experience traditional culture was well received because it enabled people to learn about traditional culture without restrictions on time or place.