Woori takes care of multicultural families

By Kim Jae-won

Woori Financial Group launched a charity foundation Wednesday which will provide scholarships and run education programs for students from multicultural families and the underprivileged.

Korea’s second-largest financial group established the Woori Multicultural Scholarship Foundation with 20 billion won ($18 million) in funds collected from affiliates such as Woori Bank, Kwangju Bank, Kyungnam Bank and Woori Investment and Securities.

“Through the foundation, we hope to provide encouragement and love to society in return for what we have received from citizens and customers,” said group Chairman Lee Pal-sung.

Lee said it is part of the group’s social corporate responsibility activities under the slogan of “Going together, Happy World.”

The foundation plans to integrate society by educating the young from multicultural and less-privileged families. It also seeks to run welfare projects for low-income families. It will cooperate with other private, public and in-house organizations to produce synergy effects.

The foundation hopes to become a role model for other welfare centers, helping children from bicultural families overcome cultural, social and language barriers. Woori plans to make it the biggest charity foundation in the finance industry, enlarging the size of the fund in the mid- and long-term.

Analysts say Korea should brace for a multicultural society whose existence is ever-expanding with an increasing number of immigrant spouses and workers. Experts say the nation still lags behind advanced countries in terms of providing public administration services and social acknowledgement.

Lee was appointed as the foundation’s inaugural chairman while lawyer Jeong Gu-yeong, Youngone CEO Seong Ki-hak, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s musical director Chung Myung-whun, and Dongwha Holdings CEO Seung Myung-ho were chosen as directors of with two-year terms.