CJ Cultural Foundation’s Impact on Cultural Enrichment and Diversity in South Korea
Published 11/03/2025 in Scholar Travel Stipend
Written
by Sally Williams |
11/03/2025
This summer I had the wonderful opportunity to be a Global Intern at CJ Cultural Foundation in South Korea. My research was on the unique work that could be done by a corporate foundation, defined by the Council on Foundations as “philanthropic organizations that are created and financially supported by a corporation…Companies establish corporate foundations and give programs to have a positive impact on society.”
I specifically researched CJ Cultural Foundation, a corporate foundation under CJ Group that defines its mission as “contributing to the global community by providing the best value without OnlyOne products and services,” according to CJ Group's website.
During my time as an intern I researched about CJ Cultural Foundation and how their programs could lead to the enrichment of South Korea’s culture, that can have lasting influence on its residents as well as South Korea’s impact abroad. My research also explores how being a global intern has had an effect on me personally and culturally, broadening my horizons in terms of artistic expression and community building.
Author Tai-Young Kim writes in, Better Corporate Philanthropy: Understanding How CJ Uses Culture to Create K-IMPACT, that CJ highlights cultural importance both in its for-profit and non-profit sectors, while focusing on long term systemic issues. CJ stands out in their methods as they use their specific skills as an organization, knowing their strengths and available resources, to help where they can do best. Kim explains how they use a model focused on “corporate social responsibility“ (CSR) (10). One way CJ group exemplifies this is through their programs under their corporate foundations namely, CJ Cultural Foundation and CJ Welfare Foundation.
CJ Group’s effort to tackle societal issues through culture and their foundations reflects the values of the Milken Institute. Just as the Milken Institute's missions are to measure the path to people living a meaningful life through many methods including financial support, CJ Group uses cultural enrichment in CJ Cultural Foundation Programs, that they fund, to give opportunities to artists of marginalized backgrounds or indie creators that are starting their creative careers or education.
CJ Cultural Foundation programs include: TUNE UP - supporting musicians, STORY UP - supporting short film directors, and STAGE UP - supporting development of musical productions. Their global initiatives include: CJ Music Scholarships (CJ-Berklee Scholarships for Undergraduates, CJ Music Scholarship for Post-graduates, and CJ-Fulbright Music Scholarship for Post-graduates) and supporting international short film directors in China and Vietnam. And lastly their work in cultural philanthropy includes: TUNE UP Music Classes for youth and STAGE UP Cultural Philanthropy, helping youth lacking cultural experiences to watch performances.
Through these multitude of programs, CJ Cultural Foundation aligns with the values of The Milken Family Foundation, as they help people live culturally abundant lives and give them the opportunity to use their talents and artistry to achieve their goals. One major aspect of this is through education - by providing scholarships to study music, access to music classes, and by educating their interns, like me, on the amazing possibilities of a corporate foundation.
Doing in-depth research on CJ Cultural Foundation’s main programs I learned how individually each program puts the development of South Korea’s Cultural environment as one of its top priorities by supporting creatives directly and over their entire artistic process. For example, TUNE UP works to discover and promote various musical genres to support the long-lasting existence of the music industry. They do this by acknowledging how the K-pop industry is a hindrance to the expansion and diversification of the music industry (Kim). TUNE UP gives indie artists the chance to break into the industry.
This summer I was able to have direct contact with TUNE UP artists and see first hand how CJ Cultural Foundation supports its artists in various aspects. Along with the other global interns I was able to see multiple performances at CJ Azit, where TUNE UP artists can use the space, free of charge, to perform and connect with audiences, sharing their works. This is a special opportunity as booking venues could be a hindering expense for an artist still trying to gather a fan base and get their name and music known. As an audience member it was such an intimate experience and I had previously never been to an indie concert, so I was able to be introduced to a new genre or Korean music.
Cultural Foundation staff also attend other concerts that TUNE UP artists perform in, showing up and being present, while supporting them in any way they can. As interns we were able to attend the Pentaport Rock Festival, which was such an embodied experience! I’ve also never listened to Korean rock music before, so this was a very special moment for me.
The CJ Cultural Foundation this summer had four Global Interns including me, two of us attending university in the United States and two interns attending university in New Zealand. This alone was also an engaging and culturally enriching experience to meet other interns with from different cultural backgrounds, as well as be in a new space together, working in a Korean corporate setting. CJ Cultural Foundation expresses their efforts to support South Korean industries through culture on a global scale, by taking into consideration global opinions and thoughts from the Global Interns through our research papers and final presentations. Not only do they try to learn from our suggestions, but they teach us about their innovative cultural programs in hopes we can learn from their achievements in uplifting the nation through cultural preservation and shaping its evolution.
Another wonderful experience I had this summer was being introduced to CJ’s other corporate foundation, CJ Welfare Foundation, by joining staff to attend a children welfare center. These centers provide culture based programs to underprivileged children of diverse cultural backgrounds. A fellow intern and I prepared presentations in Korean about our creative backgrounds in our respected interest in the arts and our life paths, cultural programs we engaged with, and our educational paths that led us to our internship. It was such a beautiful experience to see first hand the culture based CSR programming staff at the welfare foundation taught the children as well as share with them my personal experiences and ask them about their own experiences. We ended our visit by asking the students what their dreams were and listening to their hopes. The wide smiles on their faces inspired me. I further admired the work of CJ’s corporate foundations as through the Welfare Foundation the students could have opportunities to keep believing in the attainability of their dreams.
My culturally rich summer has taught me so much about the power corporations can have by using their individual skills to support communities and national industries. I was able to directly see the impact that centering culture could have on so many people and help to brighten the prosperity of the future.
References:
“Foundation Basics.” Council on Foundations, 31 May 2022, cof.org/content/foundation-basics.
Kim, Tai-Young. Better Corporate Philanthropy: Understanding How CJ Uses Culture to Create K-IMPACT. SAMTOHSA, 2023.
“Introduction: CJ Group.” CJ, en.cj.net/cj-introduction/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2025.
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