The Korea University Medical Center announced Thursday that it will construct a new hospital on land in southern Seoul that was donated by an anonymous woman last May.
Located in Cheongdam-dong, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Seoul, the donated land is worth 40 billion won, real estate experts said.
Identified only by her surname Lee, the donor in her 60s wanted the land to be used for medical education and research. As she wanted to keep her donation anonymous, the hospital refused to disclose details of the case.
Lee succeeded the property from her late mother in 2003, who, in her will, asked her daughter to donate the whole fortune to society for good causes. The mother is known to have worked in the education field and earned billions of won through a transportation business.
Her decision to donate the land to the hospital was made after she was hospitalized there in 2003 and learned that the hospital had helped the needy.
The hospital plans to decide how to commemorate the donor and her mother in the appreciation for their good deed, hospital officials said.