Imported whiskey distributor Diageo Korea announced on Tuesday it will launch a foundation to further strengthen its social contribution activities.

The hard liquor distributor told press its plan to donate 5 billion won over the next five years through the Diageo Korea Foundation, which begins operation on July 1. They plan to set aside 1 billion won each year. 

Shortly after the announcement, Diageo Korea signed a cooperative pact with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, vowing to prioritize projects for the self-sustainability of single parents and other socially underprivileged in the foundation’s budget allocations.

The launch of the Diageo Korea Foundation is an extension of the pan-Asian social contribution project “Plan W” of Diageo Plc., a British multinational and the world’s largest liquor producer, headquartered in London.

At the end of 2012 Diageo Plc.’s pan-Asian operation announced it would set aside $100 million for Plan W, in order to enhance the social status and economic self-sustainability of some 2 million women from 17 Asian countries.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)