Korea Times chairman to lead Korea University Alumni Association

By Lee Hae-rin

Seung Myung-ho, the chairman of The Korea Times and Dongwha Group, has been elected as the 34th president of Korea University's Alumni Association.

“I am glad and honored to assume such a heavy responsibility,” Seung said in an acceptance speech during the inaugural ceremony at Korea University's Seoul campus on Monday. “I will do my best to treasure and further develop the association's tradition,” Seung said.

Seung will lead the association for three years. The association's previous president was LS Group chairman Koo Ja-yeol.

After the nomination committee of the association unanimously recommended Seung for the position, the association's delegates confirmed his presidency during the general meeting that day.

Seung, 66, entered university as a commerce and trade major in 1974. As a graduate, Seung has made several donations to his alma mater.

Seung joined Dongwha Group in 1983 and took the helm as the group's chairman in 2011. The company expanded its business area to the media industry following its acquisition of Korean daily newspaper Hankook Ilbo and The Korea Times in 2015. From 2016 to this January, Seung led the alumni's federation of Korean industries as president.

The university decided to honor Seung's term in office by naming one of its lecture halls “Hankook Ilbo Hall” and establishing the Seung Myung-ho Entrepreneurship Education Center at the Business School, also named after its donor.

The Korea University Alumni Association was established in Jan. 1907 and has over 350,000 members.

“The association has played a significant role in nurturing global leaders and contributed to the country's academic, economic and democratic development,” Euh Yoon-dae, the former president of the university told The Korea Times, Monday, “The association believes the president's role is to create the right environment in which the alumni can contribute to the country and the world,” Euh added.