Hanssem founder donates W440 bil. to nurture future leaders

Hanssem DBEW (Design Beyond East & West) Research Foundation

Cho Chang-gul

By Park Jin-hai

Cho Chang-gul, 76, the founder of furniture maker Hanssem, will donate 2.6 million company shares, half of his stake, worth 440 billion won to his company's non-profit foundation for talented young people, the firm said Thursday.

The founder and honorary chairman gave 600,000 of his company shares worth 105 billion won in a first batch to the Hanssem DBEW (Design Beyond East & West) Research Foundation.

The foundation is a non-profit think tank Cho founded in 2012 to give guidance to young Koreans on reading and changes in geopolitics, in a bid to nurturing future global leaders.

The remaining 2 million worth of shares will be injected into the fund over the next few years.

"Chairman Cho used to say that Korea should play a leading role among the super powers of the U.S., China, Russia and Japan," said a company official. "The foundation will be run in a way that develops future strategies for Korea and incubates leaders, emulating the Brooking Institute in the U.S."

The U.S. think tank drew up the Marshall Plan to rebuild the World War II-torn nations across the globe and has been regarded as one of the most prestigious institutes in the world along with the Heritage Foundation.

The company will focus on four main tasks ― the creation of a new culture by converging the values of the West and East, a sustainable society, good use of digital technology and a study of China.

It will also strive to nurture future leaders that don't represent the interests of a limited number of countries, but of the whole world, the company said.

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