Korean Air Earns Mongolian Environmental Excellence Medal

Korean Air has been awarded the “Environmental Excellence Medal” by the government of Mongolia.

Jong Hee Lee, President and COO of Korean Air, received the honor of the “Environmental Excellence Medal” from Luimed Gansukh, a minister of the Ministry of Environment, at the government headquarters in Ulanbatar, the capital city of Mongolia, on May 19.

The “Environmental Excellence Medal” is the most prestigious honor awarded by the government of Mongolia.

Korean Air, as a commercial company, has received this high recognition for its constant efforts to enhance the environment of Mongolia by planting tens of thousands of trees in the country.

Korean Air started its Global Planting Project in 2004 and has flown new employees and South Korean college students to Mongolia every year to plant trees in what is now called the “Korean Air Forest”. The forest is located in the Baganor Desert where the desertification of forests is causing pollutant yellow dust spreading across Asia.

In a bid to help the country cope with increasing desertification, Korean Air continued its tree planting project this year. A total of 208 volunteers split into three groups are planting 9,000 trees from May 4 to May 22. The airline has planted 36,500 with the help of a total of 1,500 employee volunteers over the past six years.

Baganor was chosen as one of the best green cities by the Mongolian government in 2006, and the “Korean Air Forest” has been recognized not only domestically, but also globally as a successful model for partnerships between global companies and local autonomous entities.

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