Mr. Bae has continuously donated to the hospital on behalf of low-income patients.

A restaurant owner couple donated 100 million KRW to the Seoul National University Hospital on behalf of the low-income patients.

SNU Hospital On April 21, BAE Jong Chul and his wife KIM Sun Mi, owners of a Japanese sushi restaurant, donated 100 million KRW to the Seoul National University Hospital for the patients who cannot afford medical care. The couple has donated over 13 million KRW to the hospital until this year. Thanks to their generous contributions to the hospital, 525 patients have been able to receive medical sponsorship and treatment.

In 1992 Kim and Bae learned from KIM Suk Hwa, a professor of SNU Hospital that there were many children in Korea with facial deformities who could not afford surgery. Since then, the restaurateurs have set aside one to two thousand won per costumer which has been able to pay for the treatment of hundreds of patients.

Mr. Bae is running a Japanese restaurant.

According to Bae, “Donation is not something I could have done alone. It’s thanks to the many families and customers that come to [my restaurant] that I can give money to the hospital.” He also said, “I will keep working hard to be able to donate money to the SNU hospital on behalf of the low-income patients.” According to a representative of the SNU hospital, “in a hospital that works all 365 days of the year their donation is not merely a monetary one but more importantly a spiritual donation that goes to show the humanity of the world.”

The couple’s restaurant Udo is located in the Gangnam district. Perhaps the next time we are in the area we can make a visit to not only help their business but also to help contribute to the SNU hospital.

Written by Yu Young Jin, SNU English Editor, coin1234@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Lamar Smith, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr