Lee Ju-yong & Choi Gi-ju
Lee Ju-yong, the chairman of the KCC Information & Communication (86, entered Department of Sociology in 1953), and his wife Choi Gi-ju donated 10 billion Korean won as the ‘Lee Ju-yong & Choi Gi-ju Culture Center Remodeling Fund,’ looking forward to the contributions that the SNU Culture Center will make to the school and regional community. Seoul National University will award Mr. Lee and Mrs. Choi on December 10th, 2021, with president Oh Se-Jung, vice president for planning and communication Lee Won-Woo, former prime minister Lee Hong-gu and Lee Su-seong, Mr. Lee’s son Lee Sang-hyun (vice chairman of KCC Information & Communication), Lee Sang-hun (chairman of SysOne Co.), daughter Lee Sang-won and son-in-law Min Seon-shik (Chairman of YBM) present.
Seoul National University has been working for the rebuilding (complete in 2025) of the Culture Center (opened in 1985), hoping to contribute to the promotion of culture and arts, cultural exchange, establishment of the grounds of communication, and the cultivation of culture-related talents and global culture contents.
Chairman Lee Ju-yong entered the Seoul National University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1953 and after finishing the Department of Sociology program for 2 years, moved to the University of Michigan to receive the Master’s Degree in Economics. He was acknowledged for his experience of working as a researcher in the University of Michigan Social Science Research Center Data Department, and got admitted to IBM in 1960 for the first time as a Korean. While working as a representative for South Korea at IBM, he pioneered the history of IT in Korea, including bringing in the computer for the first time to Korea. After returning to South Korea, he founded the Korean Electronic Data Processing Center (later transforming into the KCC Information & Communication), the first IT services corporation in Korea. Through this center, he contributed to the revolutionary development of information and communication in various fields including finances, and corporate management. One of his biggest contributions is the development of the security system of the Resident Registration Number, and the domestic development of Shipbuilding Design Software.
To chairman Lee, donations and contributions to society has been his old conviction and a family belief. From 2017, the 50th year anniversary of the foundation of KCC Information & Communication, he started his philanthropic activities. At that time, chairman Lee made a plan to make a total of 60 billion won donations to prepare for the next century, and from then has been proceeding to make this plan come true. He has already donated 15 billion won to achieve social contribution, cultivation of talents in the IT field and start-up companies, through his Future & Software Foundation, and Jongha Scholarship Foundation. In 2016, he donated 1 billion won for the development of Seoul National University Hospital, and additionally added 1 billion won for the Information Culture Fundraising for the purpose of cultivating innovative experts and active research within Seoul National University. Chairman Lee inherited the intentions of his father Lee Jong-ha who made donations for the construction of the Jongha Gym in 1977, and decided to donate 33 billion won to renovate this gymnasium into the Jongha Innovation Center, a complex cultural space for venturing, education and culture.
Chairman Lee’s first son Lee Sang-hyun, the vice-chairman of the KCC Information & Communication sent his words in an interview, “I hope the Seoul National University Culture Center can serve as a core foundation for the development of our nations culture and arts, competing with other prominent universities in the world.”
Oh Se-Jung, the president of Seoul National University expressed his gratitude towards chairman Lee’s effort, saying that “Chairman Lee’s contributions, practicing the spirits of sharing and consideration, will long be remembered by all the members of the school.” He also decided to “name the black-box space in the Culture Center as the ‘Undang Hall,’ named after the added name of chairman Lee, as an expression of respect and gratitude towards him,” and promised that the “money donated will be preciously spent for Seoul National University to cultivate a complex cultural space for diverse cultural exchanges and communications.”