Taekwang Ilju Foundation Selects 29th Domestic Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Taekwang Group Ilju Academic and Cultural Foundation is conducting the selection of the 29th domestic bachelor's degree scholarship students for the 2021 academic year until the 23rd, targeting first-year students enrolled in four-year universities in Korea. The Ilju Foundation plans to select 60 students who demonstrate excellent academic achievement through multifaceted evaluations across various fields without discrimination against specific schools or majors.

This program began in 1991 in accordance with the philosophy of the foundation's late founder, Chairman Lee Im-yong, who promised the company's social responsibility with the belief that "trees must grow together with the forest," and this year marks the selection of the 29th class, having supported a total of 974 scholarship students to date.

Any first-year student enrolled in a four-year university in Korea with a GPA of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.5 scale) can apply, and students from all majors, including arts and physical education, will be selected evenly. In particular, volunteer activities are emphasized, and additional points are awarded to socially disadvantaged groups such as residents of child and youth group homes, recipients of basic livelihood security, and lower-income classes, thereby strengthening the necessity of scholarships for socially considerate groups. Selected scholarship students will receive full tuition support for up to six semesters.

The scholarship students participate in mentoring (learning and arts guidance, career counseling, etc.) for youths residing in "child and youth group homes," sharing their talents. A "group home" is a child protection facility that raises children in small groups of fewer than seven, providing an environment similar to a general household for children who cannot receive parental care. Now in its ninth year, the Ilju Foundation's group home mentoring program is a social contribution activity that connects scholarship students to children in group homes who are in welfare blind spots, providing academic guidance and career counseling.

Applications can be submitted online through the Ilju Foundation website. The selection process consists of document screening and interviews, comprehensively evaluating motivation for scholarship need, character, capability, and vision.

Heo Seung-jo, Chairman of the Ilju Foundation, said, "To maintain the philosophy of Muju-sang-bosi (無住相布施), which is the founding principle of the foundation by the late Chairman Lee Im-yong of Ilju, who gave without expecting anything in return, we will continue to show unwavering interest and support for nurturing future talents over the past 30 years."

Meanwhile, the Ilju Foundation's representative scholarship programs are conducted for overseas doctoral and domestic bachelor's degree students. Over the past 30 years, a total of 194 overseas doctoral scholarship students have been produced, with approximately 23.8 billion KRW in scholarships awarded, and for domestic master's, doctoral, and bachelor's degree scholarship students, a total of 1,647 students have received 15.5 billion KRW in scholarships.