▲ National Top Korea / CEO of Heeryang Um

Established in December 2009, National Top Korea (NT Korea) is a South Korean manufacturer of industrial packing materials such as PP(polypropylene) bags, PP fabric and PP felt. The company received Provisional Social Enterprise Certificate in 2011 and Social Enterprise Certificate in 2014 for offering jobs to underprivileged and for engaging in socially beneficial activities.

Heeryang Um, CEO of NT Korea, majored in business administration and finished a graduate course. She worked for a petrol related company in Seoul but quit and went back to her home town Sancheong County when her father retired and started a socially beneficial enterprise. His father suffered from acquired disability and naturally the disabled were the first to hire for the enterprise. 

The number of employees are now 26 of which most of them from low income families or elderlies. In order to obtain Social Enterprise Certificate, a company needs more than 30% employees from underprivileged groups of society. 

The sales of NT Korea marked 9.1 billion won ($7.5) in 2018, 10 billion won in 2019 and 15 billion won to be expected this year. Head office is in Sancheong and branches are operating in China and Vietnam. 

Certified social enterprises function more of creating jobs for underprivileged than of making profits. For this reason, NT Korea has been engaging in various socially beneficial activities and programs including scholarship and volunteer. 

NT Korea received prizes from the Ministry of Public Safety and Security in 2016, of the Ministry of Employment and Labor in 2019, and a government citation at the Korea Disabled Entrepreneurs Convention. <PowerKorea>