By Kim Ji-myung
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I am talking about the "King of Donation," Chairman Lee Chong-hwan (pen name Kwanjeong). One of his many country houses is next to my humble second home in Gyeonggi Province.
Chairman Lee invited my husband and me to dinner at a riverside gallery-restaurant in our neighborhood just once when he built his house. Over the past 30 years, he was an ordinary elderly neighbor, staying there rarely and usually by himself without family members, sometimes playing an organ. He casually visited my house a few times, looked around the garden, and had chat with my husband briefly, standing under a tree. And that was all.
Although he is a rich businessman worth 1 trillion won (about $1 billion), without even a penny loaned from bank, he doesn't waste money. Small money matters to the rich in general. They spend money according to plans. Born in 1923, he is slim and healthy, and always very careful about what he eats.
As I quoted at the beginning, I failed to recognize this giant simply because he was a neighbor.
The only thing I knew was his Korea Insulators Industrial Co. Ltd. is a hidden cash cow with lots of technical patents that has monopolized the market since its launch in 1971. Of course, the press carried stories about him when he made big donations with his outstanding energy and determination. But I had no idea what motivated Lee to donate.
Last week, an unusual encounter with him opened my eyes to this "prophet" for the first time after many years. He had tea in our study, telling us about his scholarship program, donation for library construction and the honorary doctorate degree he received. He looked proud and satisfied.
The Kwanjeong Educational Foundation is the biggest not only in Korea, but one of the biggest private scholarship funds in the world. To win the scholarship, one must be a Korean national and attend high school in Korea unless they had to live abroad due to their family situation. Other than that, absolutely no requirement is attached.
Lee thinks what makes a country great is its people. He supports potential young people so that someday Korea's Bill Gates will come.
"Twenty-seven countries of the world, including Japan, China, India, and Pakistan in Asia have won the Nobel Prize in natural science. We the Koreans are still waiting to see a winner. The Nobel Prize is not only a personal or national honor. It will be a momentum for the development of science, elevating Korea to the top global country's status."
Based on this belief, Lee founded the program in 2000. His heartfelt wish is to see a Kwanjeong Foundation beneficiary emerge as a Nobel Laureate.
"Challenge the Nobel Prize, my dear young students!" This is his sincere wish.
Forbes selected Lee as one of 48 Heroes of Philanthropy in February 2008. He was honored with many awards, including the Baekbeom Prize in culture in 2004.
In 2012, he made an agreement with the Seoul National University to donate 60 billion won for the construction of a new digital library. Later it was named the Kwanjeong Library as he was the main donor.
The library was dedicated in February 2015, and Seoul National University expressed its appreciation of Lee with an honorary doctorate.
Lee believes that his honorary degree is "in engineering" because he produced a new concept for a building ― a 112.5-meter by 30-meter space without pillars. The new library surrounds the existing library building on three sides.
The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) listed the Kwanjeong Library of Seoul National University on the "1001 Must See Libraries of the World."
The Kwanjeong Education Foundation's total operating asset have reached 800 billion won. The founder was given the Grand Order of Mugunghwa by the government in 2009.
He published an autobiography in 2008 at the age of 85. It is obvious that he needs a sequel soon.
The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). Her email address is Heritagekorea21@gmail.com.
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