189 million won ($140,000) disbursed this year; 2.6 billion won given to local talent since 1993
![Lee Hoon, chairman of the Jiwon Scholarship Foundation, presents scholarships to students. [Provided by the foundation]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/16/news-p.v1.20260916.f892da9c679f4c6c97b08acc3eb28cca_P1.jpg)
The Jiwon Scholarship Foundation, which has consistently supported students in the Gwangju and South Jeolla Province region, awarded a total of 189 million won ($140,000) in scholarships to 116 students this year — 43 high school students and 73 university students.
For the second half of the year, the foundation selected 23 high school students, including Jeong Min-hyeong, a first-year student at Gwangju Seoksan High School, and 33 university students, including Jeong Seo-yeong, a first-year statistics student at Chonnam National University, bringing the second-half total to 56 recipients.
High school students each received 1 million won and university students 2 million won. With this year's disbursements, the foundation has awarded more than 2.6 billion won to 2,214 high school and university students in the Gwangju and South Jeolla Province region since 1993.
The foundation was established in 1993 by the late Lee Ung-pyeong, chairman of Namdo Construction, who contributed his personal funds to set it up. It has provided scholarships to local high school and university students every year for 34 consecutive years.
Foundation Chairman Lee Hoon, in remarks at the ceremony, said he hoped the recipients would "become pillars of society with the social and ethical judgment and creative abilities needed in the AI era, and contribute to national development." He added that the foundation would "continue to lead the way in nurturing talent through even greater support."
parkds@heraldcorp.com
