LG Group logo (LG Electronics)
LG Group affiliates operating in Vietnam have yet to receive any COVID-19 vaccines despite donating billions of won to help the Southeast Asian country secure the jabs, Korean media outlets reported Monday.
Citing sources in Vietnam, the reports said LG Group employees working at the home appliance plants in Haiphong City have not received any vaccines. The parent group has contributed 1.55 billion won ($1.4 million) to Vietnam’s national vaccine fund.
This is in stark contrast to other South Korean conglomerates who have made similar contributions but received enough vaccines to inoculate thousands of employees in Vietnam with the first shot.
The Vietnamese government created a national vaccine fund in early May asking local businesses, even foreign companies, to open their wallets to support Vietnam’s vaccination efforts.
Massive contributions were made by South Korean companies, with Samsung donating 2.8 billion won, SK Group 1.1 billion won and CJ Group 310 million won to Vietnam’s central government.
As a result, Samsung was provided with COVID-19 vaccinations enough to complete the first round of jabs for some 32,500 employees. CJ also received enough vaccines to cover the first shots for 2,000 employees.
In the case of LG, the group made a 1.6 billion-won donation to the provincial government of Haiphong instead of the central government.
While the daily COVID-19 tally has remained low in Haiphong, swift vaccinations are crucial to the firm as one infected employee could result in an entire shutdown of the plant responsible for three LG affiliates -- LG Electronics, LG Display and LG Innotek.
Currently, 21,500 staffers work at LG’s Haiphong plant, according to an LG Group official.
Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Park Noh-wan had met with government authorities in Haiphong last week to ask for vaccine support for the firm, the reports added.
Vietnam continues to battle a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. The country reported 662 new cases as of Monday afternoon, according to data from World O’Meter, an international COVID-19 tracker.
By Kang Jae-eun (
kang.jaeeun@heraldcorp.com)