Police officer joins club of 100 million won donors

A senior police officer has joined an honorable group of large-sum donors by giving 100 million won to charity Tuesday.

Park Sung-soo, chief of Hanam Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, pledged Tuesday to donate 100 million won to Community Chest of Korea.

With the pledge, he has become the 186th member of the Honor Society which consists of those who donate or pledge to donate 100 million won ($93,000) or more within a year to the charity fund-raiser.

He also has become the first police officer to join the Honor Society while on active service.

“I have four years left before I retire under the age limit. I wanted to help underprivileged neighbors before retirement,” the 56-year-old told reporters. “My wife and my eldest son accepted my donation pledge with pleasure.”

Park was commissioned as a police officer in 1985 and promoted to senior superintendent in 2006. He has since worked as chief of Geochang Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province, Dalseong Police Station in Daegu and Gandong Police Station in Seoul.

Two others also joined the Honor Society of Community Chest of Korea Tuesday, increasing its membership to 189 and its accumulated donation pledges to 20.8 billion won.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)