Actor Shin Young-gyun donates W1b to Sogang University

Actor Shin Young-gyun, honorary president of the Motion Pictures Association of Korea, has donated 1 billion won ($890,000) to Sogang University in Seoul, the school said.

The donation will be used for the new “Art and Technology” department of the university, which is an academic discipline seeking to combine different studies from technology to humanities to arts in a bid to foster creative individuals, according to the school.

“Shin has decided to give the large amount of money for the sake of our plan to produce students who can lead the Korean culture industry in the future,” school officials said. 

Shin received an honorary doctorate from the university last year in recognition of his lifetime devotion to the development of Korean films and culture.

Born in Hwanghae Province, North Korea in 1928, Shin has starred in more than 290 films since 1960.

After his retirement, he established a cultural foundation with his personal assets to promote the Korean movie industry.

Through his foundation, he offers scholarships to children whose parents work in the motion picture industry and has held several short film festivals.

The donation ceremony was held on the Sogang University campus on Thursday, with the attendance of Shin and his family as well as pianist Paik Kun-woo and his wife, actress Yoon Jeong-hee.

By Lee Woo-young  (wylee@heraldcorp.com)