Yuhan-Kimberly, Korea’s leading hygiene products maker, has won a presidential citation for its innovative efforts to protect consumer rights, the company said last week.

The company was awarded the top honor in celebration of Consumer Rights Day, which falls on Dec. 3 every year.

A joint venture of Korea’s Yuhan Corp. and U.S.-based Kimberly-Clark Corp., the company was established in 1971.

Under the leadership of CEO Choe Kyoo-bok, who took office in 2010, the company is also striving to expand its business into skincare and child care products.

The company was the first in its industry to receive certification for its Consumer Complaints Management System from the Fair Trade Commission in 2008.

By 2014, when the company will mark the 30th anniversary of its environment friendly campaign, the company plans to have planted 5 billion trees in partnership with environmental experts.

“We will step up efforts to offer more innovative products and services in order to realize our belief in a better life for consumers,” said the CEO.

The successful partnership of the two companies led to the establishment of Asia’s only innovation center in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province in 2007.

The facility, which integrates research and development teams of each business division, is scheduled to be expanded into Kimberly-Clark’s first overseas global innovation center as early as January.

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