“Major Queen” In Gee Chun makes generous donation

Chun added KRW 100 million to her previous donation for the social contribution program run by her alma mater.

Under the program, KU students voluntarily participated in various activities to help the less privileged in society.

Professional golfer In Gee Chun, known as the “Major Queen” in Korea, showed her generosity by making a large donation to Korea University. As a graduate of the Division of Global Sports Studies at Korea University, Chun donated KRW 100 million to the KU Social Service Organization (KUSSO) in collaboration with her fan club, “The Flying Dumbos” and one of her sponsors, TAG Heuer.

Following her first donation to the same organization in December 2016, Chun made a second donation bringing the accumulated amount to KRW 200 million.

Based on the funds received from Chun, KUSSO designed a social contribution program entitled, “Social Contribution Program Together with Pro Golfer In Gee Chun,” and has been taking a leading role in various social contribution projects. Since 2017, the organization hosted a contest to receive ideas from students on social contribution projects. Based on those ideas, many projects have conducted, with approximately 300 student volunteers participating to date.

The projects selected from the contest include: “Humans” to conduct a complete enumeration survey to address healthcare inequalities and to establish medical policies for everyone; “GoGoPharm” to provide a medication counseling service for senior citizens; “Karandashi” to translate Korean traditional fairy tales into Russian and distribute them to Koryoins (ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states) living in Russia and Central Asia; “Gaonnuri” to develop an application to translate 500 Korean words from middle school textbooks into five languages for children from multi-cultural families in Korea; “Dasom” to develop an application to translate medical terms and provide helpful guidance on appropriate medical institutions for international students in Korea; and “Coin” to develop an application to provide free coding education for children from low-income families.

The social contribution programs sponsored by Chun have also focused on activities to close gaps between urban and rural areas and have continued their volunteer work. Their commitment and participation were well-received by local communities. In Gee Chun, who first proposed the idea of these social contribution programs, was recently honored by the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Some of the ideas suggested by KU students have been successfully realized and become foundations for long-term, sustainable projects. Watching those ideas and projects bear fruit, the professional golfer and her fans, together with the Swiss luxury manufacturing company, decided to donate an additional KRW 100 million to KUSSO.

About 9,500 members from the fan club have succeeded in collecting KRW 12 million by saving KRW 1,000 every time Chun scores a birdie. TAG Heuer offered KRW 10 million as part of the donation fund.

The donation ceremony took place at 10:30 a.m. on July 19 in the Inchon Chamber of the Main Hall at Korea University.

At the ceremony, Chun gave a detailed explanation of how she decided to make a second donation. “I have always felt that we could do something more than just participating in one-time volunteer work. I thought of the “Social Contribution Program Together with In Gee Chun” as an opportunity for me and all of us to continue our social contribution efforts in the long term. It was heart-warming to see the program was actually helpful for our neighbors in different regions or from different classes,” said she.

In response to her remarks, KU President Jaeho Yeom said, “Thanks to KU alumni member In Gee Chun, we were able to run innovative social contribution projects. I was told that even government authorities regard it as one of the best practices in terms of contributive activities. Those who participated in her program had chances to communicate with citizens from different classes and regions and to do something beneficial for our society. Korea University will do our best to fulfill our social responsibility to support the less privileged in our society and nurture intellectuals who have good intentions.”

The leader of KUSSO, Do Seon Eur, expressed his gratitude to the golfer, her fan club and the sponsor company. “The Social Contribution Program Together with In Gee Chun made it possible for us to carry out social contribution projects in various areas such as healthcare, education, rural community support, and animal protection. The projects reached out to the less privileged in our society, including the disabled, seniors, immigrant workers, multi-cultural families, students from low-income nations, Koryoins (ethnic Koreans in the post-Soviet states), children from low-income families, and youth living in rural areas. I want to take this opportunity to thank In Gee Chun, members of her fan club, ‘The Flying Dumbos,’ and TAG Heuer.”

After the donation ceremony, Chun shared a special moment with those who participated in the program last year to listen to their thoughts and encourage them. She tried some of applications developed by the students and read storybooks translated in different languages by the program participants. The students had a chance to show her what they have achieved in their projects. After she carefully listened to the students, she did not forget to encourage them with kind words. “It was impressive to see so many brilliant ideas presented by these students. I hope they will continue to work passionately on their projects.” Before she met the students, she expressed how grateful she was for having such a wonderful opportunity to be part of the program. “Thanks to the program and all those small projects, I was able to work together with KU students, sharing thoughts and feelings, even after graduation. It was a heart-warming experience to see the program actually helping many people in need,” said she.