Kim Jeong-ok, Chair of the Kim Hee-kyung European Spirit and Culture Scholarship Foundation and a former Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) professor, delivered an additional final installment of KRW 1 billion on March 25, completing the full pledged donation of KRW 8 billion, the largest donation in JBNU's history.

Chair Kim's completion of the payment is the fruition of a noble pledge carried out over seven years since her first donation in 2019. By cherishing the bonds she formed and consistently donating for the sake of her former students and the university's future, Chair Kim's steadfast actions have deeply moved the university community and have become a reliable pillar supporting JBNU's development.

In particular, KRW 6 billion of the funds donated by Chair Kim has been concentrated on major facility improvements and the remodeling of the Samsung Arts Center's Yeongsan Hall (main auditorium) and Geonji Art Hall (small auditorium). As the aging performance infrastructure has been transformed into modern facilities, the Samsung Arts Center has been reborn as a leading regional multipurpose cultural space where not only members of the university but also local residents can enjoy high-quality cultural and artistic programs.

Meanwhile, the KRW 2 billion scholarship fund has been put to valuable use for language training and exchange-student program expenses to allow her former students majoring in European humanities, including the Department of German Education and the Department of German Studies, to devote themselves to their studies amid the crisis facing the humanities.

Chair Kim Jeong-ok said, "Honoring the noble wish of my mother, the founding chair of the Kim Hee-kyung European Spirit and Culture Scholarship Foundation, that what one has should be returned to society, I have continued to donate to JBNU and to Jeonju. I hope that the modernized Yeongsan Hall and Geonji Art Hall at the Samsung Arts Center will become the center of regional culture and that they will serve as nourishment for students majoring in the humanities to dream bigger."

President Yang Oh-bong said, "The large gift of KRW 8 billion shown by Chair Kim Jeong-ok and the profound love contained within it are a great treasure for our university. In accordance with the chair's wishes, we will make the remodeled Samsung Arts Center a hub for regional coexistence and use the donated funds worthily as seed money for nurturing world-class talent," he added.

Meanwhile, JBNU is also honoring the donor by, among other measures, permanently commemorating Chair Kim's noble spirit by naming a principal performance space within the Samsung Arts Center "Yeongsan Hall" after her pen name.