By Ko Dong-hwan
Hearing aid developer Starkey Korea on Tuesday donated its latest device to a former Korean freedom fighter who was active during the Japanese colonial period (1910-45).
The company's Managing Director Richard Shim met Oh Seong-gyu, 100, who is residing in a sanatorium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Healthcare Policy Division Deputy Director Park Ye-jin from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the division's Senior Deputy Director Jeong Hwa-jeong accompanied Shim.
The centenarian has been suffering from a hearing problem due to old age. Shim, upon meeting Oh, checked his hearing and then donated a set of Evolv AI 2400 ear pieces made by the company.
The product is the most high-end of the company's lineup of devices. It adjusts itself up to 55 million times each hour to constantly provide its user with optimal sound quality. Its artificial intelligence allows the wearer to experience some innovative features to improve convenience in everyday life. It automatically sends a notice to the wearer's emergency contact if he or she accidentally falls while walking, keeps the wearer in check with real-time health monitoring and can interpret 27 languages. It can also turn sounds into document text in real time and remotely contact the company for technical support.
In addition to the device, Shim offered Oh the company's table microphone, which can be linked to hearing aids to help pick up sound even in a noisy environment.
Oh is one of nine surviving Korean freedom fighters who are now scattered across the world. Using the alias Joo Tae-seok, he fought alongside his compatriots in Northeast China's Manchuria region. After national liberation, he moved to Japan to devote himself to advocating for and protecting ethnic Koreans there.
In 1990, he was bestowed the Order of Merit for National Foundation.
"We are thrilled to provide a patriot like Oh with even a little bit of help," Shim said, recognizing him and his compatriots' patriotic efforts, which provided the stepping stone for the modernization of Korea.
Under Shim's leadership, the company has been continuing for the past 27 years, and has donated its products on several occasions to pay tribute to the nation's patriots. In 2018, it donated 18 sets of hearing aids worth 97 million won ($73,000) altogether to surviving patriots and another 5 million won to the patriots and veterans affairs ministry to ensure national patriots' names are permanently recorded. In 2016, United Nations veterans who fought in the Korean War received hearing aids worth a total 24 million won from the company.
In 2014 the company donated 40 million won worth of hearing aids to 10 Irish veterans who fought in the Korean War. A year before, it donated to 16 other U.N. veterans its devices worth a total 100 million won.
 |
| Starkey Korea Managing Director Richard Shim, left, meets Oh Seong-gyu at a sanatorium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Shim was there to donate his company's latest hearing aid to the former Korean freedom fighter. Courtesy of Starkey Korea |
The company's Managing Director Richard Shim met Oh Seong-gyu, 100, who is residing in a sanatorium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Healthcare Policy Division Deputy Director Park Ye-jin from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the division's Senior Deputy Director Jeong Hwa-jeong accompanied Shim.
The centenarian has been suffering from a hearing problem due to old age. Shim, upon meeting Oh, checked his hearing and then donated a set of Evolv AI 2400 ear pieces made by the company.
The product is the most high-end of the company's lineup of devices. It adjusts itself up to 55 million times each hour to constantly provide its user with optimal sound quality. Its artificial intelligence allows the wearer to experience some innovative features to improve convenience in everyday life. It automatically sends a notice to the wearer's emergency contact if he or she accidentally falls while walking, keeps the wearer in check with real-time health monitoring and can interpret 27 languages. It can also turn sounds into document text in real time and remotely contact the company for technical support.
In addition to the device, Shim offered Oh the company's table microphone, which can be linked to hearing aids to help pick up sound even in a noisy environment.
Oh is one of nine surviving Korean freedom fighters who are now scattered across the world. Using the alias Joo Tae-seok, he fought alongside his compatriots in Northeast China's Manchuria region. After national liberation, he moved to Japan to devote himself to advocating for and protecting ethnic Koreans there.
In 1990, he was bestowed the Order of Merit for National Foundation.
"We are thrilled to provide a patriot like Oh with even a little bit of help," Shim said, recognizing him and his compatriots' patriotic efforts, which provided the stepping stone for the modernization of Korea.
Under Shim's leadership, the company has been continuing for the past 27 years, and has donated its products on several occasions to pay tribute to the nation's patriots. In 2018, it donated 18 sets of hearing aids worth 97 million won ($73,000) altogether to surviving patriots and another 5 million won to the patriots and veterans affairs ministry to ensure national patriots' names are permanently recorded. In 2016, United Nations veterans who fought in the Korean War received hearing aids worth a total 24 million won from the company.
In 2014 the company donated 40 million won worth of hearing aids to 10 Irish veterans who fought in the Korean War. A year before, it donated to 16 other U.N. veterans its devices worth a total 100 million won.
![[INTERVIEW] Virtual K-pop group MAVE: is more than just pretty pixels](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bcc387606cf7451c94f51a5978960c9f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'Cobweb' director questions meaning of cinema](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a029c9ea411f4aef94c6310f6a7c3c54.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] Seoul's increased art market momentum brings Sotheby's back to Korea](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3439cc1e2d744b85ab81fdcf6f045ba5.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
