While the construction of a memorial hall for former President Lee Seung-man (1875-1965), the first president of the Republic of Korea, is being promoted, senior actor Shin Yeong-gyun (95), honorary chairman of Hanju Holdings Korea, expressed his intention to donate 4,000 pyeong of private land in Gangdong-gu, Seoul as the site for the memorial hall.Chairman Shin’s intention to donate the site came out immediately at the inauguration meeting of the ‘President Rhee Syngman Memorial Hall Establishment Promotion Committee’ (chaired by Kim Hwang-sik, former Prime Minister) held at the Seoul Museum of History in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 28th of last month. The day when five people, including Dr. Lee In-soo, former president Lee’s adopted son, Park Jeong-hee, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, and Kim Dae-jung’s son, participated as advisors, along with elders from both the ruling and opposition parties and the leaders of the 4/19 student protests, all in one place for the first time. was
According to multiple attendees, at this meeting, where the articles of incorporation and future plans of the promotion committee were shared, there was also talk about the site for the memorial hall and financing. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs was planning to support 100% of the cost of building the memorial hall based on the Act on Persons of Merit for Independence, focusing on the fact that former President Lee was a man of national merit (the Order of Merit for National Independence), but the promotion committee agreed on the point of “Let’s treat him with respect as the president.” I decided to follow the ex-president courtesy law. In this case, the government budget can only receive a maximum of 30% of the project cost, and the remaining 70% will be collected from public donations.
In the midst of this, Chairman Shin, who attended as a member of the promotion committee, opened his mouth. He said, “I have 24,000 pyeong of land in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and among that land, there is 4,000 pyeong of land in Godeok-dong, along the Han River, where former President Lee enjoyed fishing. It is said that he said with the intention of donating all 4,000 pyeong if the promotion committee wants to use it as a site for the memorial hall.
Regarding the announcement of his intention to donate메이저놀이터, Chairman Shin said in a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo on the 4th, “It was late when I attended the meeting, but I am so fortunate that even now, a meaningful project seems to be progressing properly, and I felt proud of myself for attending.” He explained that he expressed his opinion on donation in the sense that we should actively cooperate as a citizen in the project to honor the founding father.”
Chairman Shin continued, “I thought it was a shame that there was no memorial to the founding president of the Republic of Korea during my lifetime.” Without former President Lee, the present Republic of Korea would not exist.”
Chairman Shin was born in Pyeongsan, Hwanghae Province, the hometown of former President Lee. Chairman Shin said, “Since I was a child, I have heard a lot about ‘Seungman Rhee, an independent activist’ in my hometown, so I was proud of it.” He is a respected president who left a very good impression on me personally.”
Chairman Shin, who was a dentist and appeared in more than 300 films in the 1960s and 1970s, such as ‘Red Scarf’, ‘Yeonsan-gun’ and ‘I Hate You Again’, later worked as a politician (re-elected member of the National Assembly) and businessman. He was also active in donating. In 2010, he donated 50 billion won of his own money to the culture and art world to establish the ‘Shin Young-gyun Arts and Culture Foundation’ (Chairman Sung-ki Ahn), and in 2016, he donated 1 billion won to the foundation ‘Unification and Sharing’ and last year to his alma mater Seoul National University School of Dentistry.
With Chairman Shin’s proposal, the number of candidates for the Syngman Rhee Memorial Hall site has increased. There were three sites for the memorial hall that had been reviewed before, including the Baejae Hakdang Museum of History (Jung-gu, Seoul), Rhee Seung-man (Jongno-gu, Seoul), and the vicinity of Naksan Park (Jongno-gu, Seoul). It is said that the words “Let’s select a site” were exchanged.The movement of the propulsion committee is also materialized. On the 29th of last month, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security applied for registration as a non-profit private organization, and a secretariat is expected to be set up within this month at the earliest. The office was decided to be set up in the Paichai History Museum at the suggestion of Bo-Hyeon Jo, chairman of the Baichai Institute, who is a member of the promotion committee. The head of the secretariat, who will oversee the secretariat, will be Professor Kim Gun-ki of Yeungnam University, who is a member of the promotion committee. In a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo, Professor Kim said, “I have applied for retirement from Yeungnam University in order to focus on the secretariat work.”