Jibong Scholarship Association Chairman Park Pan-je donates 100 million won in scholarship fund to Hapcheon-gun Talent Development Foundation

Hapcheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-min = Gyeongnam Hapcheon-gun Talent Development Foundation announced on the 17th that Park Pan-je, chairman of the Jibong Scholarship Association, donated 100 million won in scholarship funds to foster local talent and develop education.

Chairman Park, who is from Daebyeong-myeon, Hapcheon-gun, graduated from Korea University College of Commerce and served as Commissioner of the Environmental Protection Agency, Deputy Commissioner of the Public Procurement Service, and President of the International Graduate School of Design.

Even while working in public office and education, he continued to run scholarship projects for younger students in his hometown.

In 1991, he established the Jibong Scholarship Association, named after his pen name, and devoted himself to nurturing younger students by providing scholarships worth a total of 560 million won to 880 students, including those in the Hapcheon area, for over 30 years.

Recently, Chairman Park judged that it would be difficult to continue operating the scholarship society due to his advanced age and decided to disband it.

At the same time, in order to return the remaining assets to the development of education, he donated 100 million won each to his hometown, Hapcheon-gun Talent Development Foundation, and his alma mater, Korea University.

This donation will be raised as the 'Jibong Scholarship' in the future and will be used for scholarship projects for local students.

Through this, it is expected that the spirit of sharing and talent development of the Jibong Scholarship Society, which has been in place for over 30 years, will continue at the Hapcheon-gun Talent Development Foundation.

Chairman Park Pan-je said, “I hope that this will be of some help in helping students from my hometown realize their dreams and grow into talented people who will lead the region,” and added, “I will always support Hapcheon’s educational development and talent development in the future.”

Hapcheon County Governor Kim Yun-cheol, chairman of the foundation, responded, "We are grateful for the noble intention of being a great example to the local community through scholarship projects for over 30 years," and added, "We will do our best in scholarship and talent development projects to ensure that the donor's precious wishes are well conveyed to local students."