About 1.445 million Nexen Tire shares gifted to university

Chairman cites balanced national development, support for regional youth

Kang Byung-joong, chairman of Nexen Group. [Provided by Nexen Tire]
Kang Byung-joong, chairman of Nexen Group. [Provided by Nexen Tire]

Nexen Group Chairman Kang Byung-joong will donate Nexen Tire shares worth 10 billion won ($6.55 million) to Pusan National University. The university plans to use the gift to establish the Kang Byung-joong Research and Scholarship Fund, which will support the regional mobility industry and local talent development.

Nexen Tire announced Thursday that Kang will donate 1,445,087 Nexen Tire shares, valued at approximately 10 billion won, to the Pusan National University Development Foundation.

"I am delighted to be able to help Pusan National University at a time when universities play an important role in growing together with local communities and businesses, and in contributing to balanced national development," Kang said. "I hope to see more young people feel that they can dream and take on challenges right here in their own region."

Kang has been engaged in philanthropy for more than 50 years, beginning in the mid-1970s when he became chairman of the board of Ibanseong Middle School in his hometown of Jinju and launched educational and scholarship programs. Through personal donations and three cultural and scholarship foundations — the KNN Cultural Foundation, the Nexen Wolseok Cultural Foundation and the Wolseok Sundo Scholarship Association — he has contributed approximately 50 billion won, benefiting some 10,000 scholarship recipients to date.

He previously donated 15 billion won of his personal assets as a development fund to his alma mater, Dong-A University, and contributed 3 billion won in personal funds to support Busan's bid for the 2030 World Expo. His late wife, Kim Yang-ja, who died three years ago, also donated shares, bonds and other assets worth 10 billion won to public-interest foundations.

Pusan National University said it will use the donation to establish the Kang Byung-joong Research and Scholarship Fund, directing the proceeds toward a future mobility research fund aimed at securing growth engines for regional industries, scholarships for local talent, and improvements to the university's main gate.

"Upholding the spirit of Chairman Kang's donation, we will redouble our efforts to nurture outstanding talent who can contribute to balanced national development, the advancement of the southeastern region and its industries, and the enhancement of national competitiveness — building on the five-pole, three-special growth engine framework the government is pursuing," said Choi Jae-won, president of Pusan National University.

Meanwhile, Kang recently delivered a keynote address at the 2026 UN Day for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises International Forum, where he introduced the Korean model of entrepreneurship and said that "even in the age of AI, people must remain at the center of technology," underscoring the need for human-centered management in the AI era.


eyre@heraldcorp.com