President KIM Jungsik (right) donates 50 billion won to Seoul National University

Kim Jungsik, President of Dae Duck Electronics, made a 50 billion won donation to SNU, his alma mater. The funds will be used to build the SNU counterpart of the new MIT College of Computing, which will serve as an interdisciplinary hub for research in AI and related fields.

For Kim, who has greatly contributed to the development of electrical technology in Korea, this generous act is not something new. He founded the Haedong Science and Culture Foundation in 1991 and has been actively supporting researchers and students ever since. His social contribution efforts include scholarships, building centers for educational research, and awarding promising scholars. He has supported his alma mater with a cumulative total of 65.7 billion won, which makes it the largest amount of donation to SNU by an individual.

“In the phrase, ‘give and take’, I only believe in the ‘give,’” Kim said during one interview, emphasizing that he does not expect anything in return. He added, however, that he likes to make sure that “the donation is being used for the right purposes.”

According to Kim, “SNU’s focus should be on not the building itself but what goes on inside of it.”

Written by Chae Hyun Kim, SNU English Editor, michelle25@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Professor Travis Smith, Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, tlsmith@snu.ac.kr