GM Korea on Tuesday held a special event recognizing 19 Korean suppliers that have recently been named “Supplier of the Year” by General Motors.

The Detroit-based carmaker has picked less than 1 percent of its suppliers globally every year to award the honor since 1992. This March, 83 out of the total 18,500 suppliers were named.

The Korean unit said that Korea had the second-largest number of winners, following the No. 1 United States.

More than 100 people gathered at a Seoul hotel on Tuesday to celebrate the Korean winners. They included Grace Lieblein, GM vice president of global purchasing and supply chain; Johnny Saldanha, GM international operations vice president of global purchasing and supply chain; Sergio Rocha, president and CEO of GM Korea; Lee Jung-woo, chairman of the GM Korea Supplier Association and Youngsin Metal Industry; and representatives from the 19 SOY winners.

“GM is focused on enhancing long-term, sustainable and transparent cooperation, and building open communication with its suppliers,” Lieblein said during the event. “Thanks to our Korean suppliers’ passion and effort, we achieved excellent results in quality, price, supply and technology last year.

“GM and GM Korea have benefited from our close partnership with our Korean suppliers,” said Rocha. “We continue to look for opportunities to promote shared growth with our suppliers.”

GM Korea has also signed agreements every year on shared growth and fair trade with its suppliers since 2011, the company said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)