Donated 25 Billion Won Over 10 Years... Park Hyun-joo Practicing the 'Talent Theory'

Donation of 1.7 Billion KRW Dividends This Year
20 Years of Scholarship Programs Since 2000... Over 10,000 Beneficiaries
Supporting Over 300,000 People Through Various Economic Education Programs

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] "A good company is one that nurtures people and provides opportunities."

This is the philosophy of Park Hyun-joo, Chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group. Chairman Park, who established the Mirae Asset Park Hyun-joo Foundation and has been dedicated to talent development for 20 years, once again donated all of her 1.7 billion KRW dividend this year. Over the past decade, she has donated a total of 25 billion KRW. In a letter to employees in 2008, she promised, "From 2010, I will use all dividends for the youth of this land," and has personally practiced social contribution through talent development and talent development through donations.

◆ 20 Years Since Foundation Launch... 10,000 Scholarship Students = Chairman Park established Mirae Asset Venture Capital and Korea's first specialized asset management company Mirae Asset Investment Advisory in 1997. Shortly after founding, she experienced the foreign exchange crisis but established the Mirae Asset Education Foundation the following year. Two years later, in 2000, she contributed 7.5 billion KRW of personal funds to expand the foundation and established the Mirae Asset Park Hyun-joo Foundation. The scholarship program, launched in May of that year under the banner "We will be the hope of young people," has become one of Korea's leading scholarship programs with about 10,000 recipients over 20 years, including 3,475 domestic scholarship students, 5,817 overseas exchange students, and 122 global investment expert scholarship students.

In particular, Chairman Park has focused on actively nurturing global talent. In her autobiography, she emphasized, "Young financial talents from this land scattering around the world and forming human networks will exert strong power in terms of national competitiveness." The program marked its 13th anniversary since selecting its first class in December 2007. It mainly selects students who are academically excellent but economically disadvantaged and have clear goals. This is because of Chairman Park's belief that "educational opportunities should be given equally to everyone regardless of economic conditions." Scholarships are awarded twice a year in spring and fall semesters, and considering university students who want overseas experience, the number of recipients has increased by 100 annually from 2017 to last year, currently supporting a total of 700 students annually with tuition and living expenses.

Support programs allowing youth to experience foreign cultures have also been implemented. The "Global Cultural Experience Group" is a representative example. Twice a year, 200 youths using regional children's centers nationwide participate in a 3-night, 4-day historical, cultural, and economic exploration of Shanghai or Shenzhen, China. This provides children from centers, who find overseas experience difficult due to economic conditions, with the opportunity to visit Shanghai, where they can see China's past and present at a glance, and Shenzhen, a representative innovation city in China.

◆ Economic Education Provided to 290,000 People = Efforts have also been made to cultivate economic talent. This is to nurture talents who understand the capital market, the foundation of capitalism, from childhood. Since August 2006, the "Our Child Global Leader Expedition" has been conducted for subscribers of the Our Child Fund, and in 2010, the target was expanded to elementary school students nationwide with programs such as "Our Child School Tour," "Our Child Economic Classroom," and "Our Child Economic Doctor Camp." More than 13,000 have participated in the Global Leader Expedition alone, and over 150,000 have taken part in the School Tour and Economic Classroom programs. In addition, social welfare projects such as book support and support for children from low-income families and undernourished children are being actively pursued.

A Mirae Asset Financial Group official explained, "Since the founding, Chairman Park's management philosophy has been 'to look to the future with an open mind and value talent,' so we believe that investing in young talent and helping them contribute to Korean society is the role Mirae Asset can play in our society, and we are dedicated to this."