SK Telecom is using AI and drone technology to help restore forests in wildfire-damaged areas of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province.

SK Telecom said on Oct. 30 it held a seminar a day earlier with Yuhan-Kimberly, the Peace Forest association and nature-tech startup InveLab to share the restoration status and future plans for the Andong wildfire-hit areas.

The 4 companies and organisations are jointly pushing the project to create the "Andong Peace Forest". SKT and Yuhan-Kimberly, together with Peace Forest, have planted a total of 10,000 trees since March in a 4.4-hectare wildfire-damaged area, including wild cherry, oriental raisin tree, linden, gorosoe maple and Japanese snowbell.

SKT worked with InveLab to expand restoration to steep slopes that are hard for people to access. Using AI-based spatial analysis technology, it analysed environmental conditions such as terrain, waterways and solar radiation, and used drones to sow 10,000 seed-balls mixed with native plant seeds, soil and nutrients. It also used AI and drones to monitor vegetation changes and tree growth conditions in the wildfire-hit areas, and identified areas that need additional planting and the distribution of ecologically disruptive plants.

SKT and Yuhan-Kimberly have been cooperating in areas including restoration of wildfire sites, resource circulation and biodiversity conservation since signing an agreement in September last year to strengthen ESG practices. In September, they jointly carried out an e-waste recycling campaign and a tree-planting activity at a honeybee forest in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province. On Oct. 23, they took part in a tree and green space restoration project in the Changgyeonggung area.

Eom Jong-hwan (엄종환), head of SKT's sustainability management office, said, "We will pursue restoration of the Andong wildfire-damaged areas over the long term by combining SKT's AI capabilities with Yuhan-Kimberly's experience in the environment and forestry fields." He said the two companies will expand ESG cooperation where they can generate synergy.