Naju City certifies Lohwell SM and Geumha Tech as 'women-friendly companies'

[The Fact | Naju = Reporter Kim Dong-eon] Naju City, Jeonnam, certified two local companies as "Naju-type women-friendly companies" on the 29th and presented them with plaques, to spread a working environment good for women and a culture of gender equality, it announced on the 30th.

The Naju-type women-friendly company programme certifies companies that have operated in the city for at least two years, have fewer than 300 employees and a share of women employees of at least 30%, and that work to build a women-friendly organisational culture, for example through flexible working hours and maternity and parental leave.

The companies selected this year are Lohwell SM and Geumha Tech. They passed a review of five items, including the CEO's commitment, practice of employment equality, employee tenure, operation of work-life balance systems and completion of sexual-harassment prevention training, followed by an on-site inspection by the "Women-Friendly City Citizen Participation Group".

Lohwell SM is located in the Naju Innovation Industrial Complex and runs a business based on manufacturing agricultural and forestry machinery, while Geumha Tech is a small and medium-sized company in the Innovation City that makes communication equipment such as in-house broadcasting and public-address sound devices.

Under the agreement, these companies plan to take the lead in eliminating gender discrimination in hiring, promotion, pay and other personnel matters and in creating a friendly working environment where work and life are balanced.

For the next three years the city will support the certified companies by improving facilities for women workers, providing visiting gender-equality education, supporting employment and recruitment in cooperation with the Women's New Job Center, and promoting them to raise their corporate image.

Naju Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, "For women talents to keep entering society and to address the low birth rate, creating women-friendly workplaces is very important. I hope this leads to positive changes in more companies in the region."

Naju City has certified a total of six companies as women-friendly: Pstech and Haenong in 2023, Kuroensys and Jeongseok Food Naju in 2024, and Lohwell SM and Geumha Tech in 2025.