Lotte Group said on the 29th that it held a citizen-participation festival to mark the 10th anniversary of its "mom Comfortable" social contribution program and began working to broaden public interest in tackling low birthrates and improving the care environment.
Lotte, together with ChildFund Korea and the Community Chest of Korea, held the "Lotte mom Comfortable Festival" for three days from the 19th to the 21st at the Seoul City Hall lawn plaza. The opening ceremony on the 19th was attended by Im Seong-bok, head of communications at Lotte Corporation, Yoon Yeo-jun, chair of the Community Chest of Korea, Hwang Young-ki, chair of ChildFund Korea, Park Jin-kyung, standing member of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, and Park Chan-gu, deputy mayor of Seoul.
Lotte also delivered a total donation of 500 million won to ChildFund Korea and the Community Chest of Korea to help overcome the low-birthrate crisis and make real improvements at childcare sites.
Since 2017, Lotte has worked to improve the child care environment through the "mom Comfortable Dream Attic" and "mom Comfortable Playground" programs. Mom Comfortable Dream Attic is a project to improve the environment of local child centers, which are after-school care institutions. After establishing the first center in Hoehyeon-myeon, Gunsan, North Jeolla, in 2017, it opened the 100th location in Dong-gu, Busan, in Dec. last year, expanding to 15 cities and provinces nationwide.
In particular, by establishing more than 60% of all centers outside the greater Seoul area, it also helped narrow regional gaps in care environments. The "mom Comfortable Playground" project, aimed at creating children's play environments and easing educational inequality, has also been completed through the 32nd location nationwide. Recognized for these contributions to improving regional child care environments, Lotte received the prime minister's award at the "13th Korea Sharing and Giving Awards" in Nov. 2024.
Recently, it has expanded its activities beyond facility support to improving social awareness of family and care. In Feb., it established the "Lotte mom Comfortable Family Award" to encourage individuals and groups that contribute to spreading a healthy family culture. On the 26th, it held an awards ceremony and granted prize money totaling 120 million won.
Lotte is also operating group-level childbirth and childcare support systems and is working to spread a family-friendly corporate culture. In 2012, it introduced an automatic childcare leave system for women that moves from maternity leave to childcare leave without a separate approval process. In 2017, it became the first among large domestic corporations to implement mandatory childcare leave for men, which has since become a representative family-friendly system at Lotte. Under the system, employees must take at least one month of childcare leave within two years of a spouse's childbirth, and the usage rate is about 90%.
Lotte is also focusing on solving social issues in line with the management direction of Chair Shin Dong-bin, who has emphasized respect for diversity. In 2013, it established the "Lotte Group Diversity Charter," which codifies respect for diversity and the elimination of discrimination.
Its social contribution activities are also being expanded to all generations. In line with the group vision of "Lifetime Value Creator," it is operating a variety of social contribution programs under the direction of providing value across the entire life cycle of customers.
A Lotte official said, "We hope this festival becomes a joyful memory for children and an opportunity for adults to reflect on the value of care," adding, "We will continue to lead efforts to broaden social consensus to overcome the low-birthrate crisis and keep working to create an environment where children can grow up healthy."