YONHAP NEWS

President Lee donates personal wealth to students, needy

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak donated the bulk of his lifetime savings of over 33.2 billion won (US$26.2 million) Monday, fulfilling a campaign pledge to use his personal wealth not for his family but for those who are in need.

The money will be used to establish a foundation that will offer scholarships and other financial support to those in the lower brackets, according to Song Jeong-ho, a lawyer who has been tapped to head the scholarship foundation.

Named "Cheonggye" in Korean after one of the president's pen names, the fund will be titled the Lee & Kim Foundation in English after the president and his wife, Kim Yoon-ok, Song said.
It will offer about 90 million won every month based on its income from the donated assets, mostly real estate properties.

   "Throughout my life, what made me feel truly happy was my relationship with the people I met and the achievements I made at work, not the money I made," the president said in a press release explaining his reasons behind the donation.

   "Looking back, I realize everyone who has helped me become who I am now were people who were poor. I believed one way to return the favors they afforded me was to use my wealth for a good cause," it said.

   Just 10 days ahead of the presidential election in December 2007, the former CEO-turned-president pledged to donate all his personal wealth, except for one house he plans live in after retirement, to society.

   Song, who headed the committee handling the donation process, said the president had expressed such intent as early as in 1995.

   He said the reason for the delay was because the committee needed to decide what was "the most meaningful" way to use the president's lifetime savings.

   "We thoroughly reviewed the purpose and the goal of the foundation to reflect the president's wish that his donation help relieve the pains of our citizens and lead to the start of a donation campaign," Song told a press briefing.

   Lee, although not the first to give away such a large sum, is one of only a few to donate a majority of their assets in a country where family wealth is often inherited, sometimes through illegal means to evade taxes or criticism from the public.

   President Lee said he hopes the money will help provide for those in need to realize what is really important in life.

   "I, not only as the president but as a citizen, truly hope our country will become a warm society where each helps and cares for others. I truly hope we will be a society where people express their love not just through money but with sincere hearts because money without love means nothing," he said.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
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