Meeting held Wednesday with Korea-US Alliance Foundation and KDVA

'SM Group will spare no support to strengthen Korea-US friendship'

SM Group Chairman Woo Oh-hyun (left) and Korea-US Alliance Foundation President Lim Ho-young, a former deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command, pose for a photo at a corporate supporters' meeting held Wednesday at Dragon Hill Sables in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. [SM Group]
SM Group Chairman Woo Oh-hyun (left) and Korea-US Alliance Foundation President Lim Ho-young, a former deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command, pose for a photo at a corporate supporters' meeting held Wednesday at Dragon Hill Sables in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. [SM Group]

SM Group announced Thursday that Chairman Woo Oh-hyun has received a corporate supporter certificate from the Korea-US Alliance Foundation in recognition of his contributions to supporting the foundation's activities and the Korea-US Alliance Forum.

Woo received the certificate Wednesday from Korea-US Alliance Foundation President Lim Ho-young, a former deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command, at a corporate supporters' meeting hosted by the foundation and the Korean Defense Veterans Association at Dragon Hill Sables in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

The corporate supporter certificate is awarded to companies that have backed the foundation's work to strengthen the Korea-US alliance. The foundation has previously presented the award to major corporate supporters including Hanwha and SK Group, and used Wednesday's meeting as the occasion to present it to Woo.

SM Group has actively supported the foundation's key initiatives for the development of the Korea-US alliance, including sponsoring this year's Korea-US Alliance Forum. The group also provided its Top10 Hotel properties to support a spouses' program jointly run by the Korea-US Alliance Foundation and the Korean Defense Veterans Association, contributing to exchanges between the two countries.

At the meeting, Korean Defense Veterans Association President Robert Abrams showed attendees photos of his wife spending time on the East Sea coast as part of the joint spouses' program, and expressed his deep gratitude to Woo and SM Group for providing Hotel Top10 Gangneung as accommodation.

"The role of the private sector and businesses is just as important as that of governments and militaries in advancing the Korea-US alliance," Woo said. "SM Group will spare no support or cooperation to contribute to the continued development of the alliance and to promote friendship between the two countries."

Meanwhile, Woo recently decided to donate scholarship funds to fully cover national scholarship shortfalls for incoming students at Yeoju University in the 2027 academic year, as part of an effort to realize public value through the revitalization of regional universities. The donation amounts to about 7 billion won ($5.12 million).


likehyo85@heraldcorp.com