CEO Donates $10 Million to KAIST
Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A self-made Korean businessman in the U.S. has donated as much as $10 million or about 9.3 billion won to the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
This is the largest amount of a single donation ever made by a Korean businessman running businesses overseas.
Park Byiung-jun, 73, had a donation ceremony Wednesday at KAIST located in Daejeon, North Chungcheong Province.
``Although there are many smart students in Korea, many universities they are attending here are usually in financial difficulties, compared with those in the U.S. That's why I decided to make a donation,'' Park said. ``It is important to seize the time in life which can offer you a great chance to succeed. I hope students endeavor to make their dreams come true.''
Park is currently an advisor at Bureau Veritas, a French industry inspection service provider.
He has accumulated knowledge and experiences in a variety of fields.
While attending Seoul National University, he left for the U.S. and earned a bachelor's degree there in design, a master's degree in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a doctor's degree in philosophy at the University of Leeds in the U.K.
After graduation, he accepted a challenge once again.
He started working at a consumer products testing laboratory.
With experience in the product testing field, Park founded his own testing laboratory named Merchandise Testing Lab (MTL) in 1986.
KAIST plans to use part of his donation to build a new laboratory now under construction.
``Donations are essential to improve the competency of Korean universities,'' he said. ``I will keep giving money to universities to elevate our students to world-class status.''
The businessman has donated a total of $20 million or about 18.6 billion won to universities and institutions in Seoul and Washington.
Last year, he received an honorary doctorate degree from KAIST.