According to the book, "Tae-joon Park, looking at his way," in 1968, the late chairman established POSCO at Yeongil Bay, Pohang, at the age 41, overcoming countless hardships and adversities as well as strong sandstorms, and finally promoted the steel industry of Korea and developed POSCO as a global steel company. The day before the steel mill first started its operation (July 3, 1973), the late Chairman Park established the predecessor of the POSCO TJ Park Foundation, the Steel Scholarship Foundation, in January 1971 with seed money of KRW 60 million that was given to him as a rebate by an insurance company, to nurture the talents that our society needs.

In 1976, he established the Steel Educational Foundation that even covers higher education and operated 12 schools (kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools) to nurture creative talents. In 1986, Chairman Park established the first research-centered university in Korea, POSTECH, and laid the basis of advanced science research by nurturing highly-qualified talents and creating the state-of-the-art research foundation.

The POSCO TJ Park Prize was established in 2006 to honor the achievements of the late Chairman Tae-joon Park who laid the foundation of industrialization and modernization of Korea that was a barren country without any production of steel and iron, only through his strong belief to "achieve a country that produces steel," and to promote the company's founding principles to respect creativity, nurture talent, and practice philanthropy with the hope that this will encourage the public to make even greater contributions to national progress in the future.

The Prize is given in four fields: science, education, social service, and technology. The TJ Park Science Prize is given to Korean scientists who have made creative and original achievements in the fields of natural science or engineering based on domestic research activities, contributing to raising the national status and developing science and technology. The Education Prize is given to an individual or organization that has contributed to the systematic development of creative education and the dissemination of it to the whole sector. The Community Development and Philanthropy Prize is awarded to an individual or organization that has practiced devoted love and sharing for raising the quality of life of society, in connection with the foundation's core program, the POSCO Asia Fellowship program, expanding the eligible candidates to the Asian region. The technology prize is awarded to individuals or organizations who have contributed to the development of national industries through world-class technology innovation and industrialization.