Kim Yong-ok Dool Donates 2 Million KRW to Haenam-gun Hometown Love Donation Fund

‘Haenam Is My Root’ Hopes to Help Overcome the Rural Disappearance Crisis

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seo Young-seo] On the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Rabbit, the world-renowned thinker and philosopher Kim Yong-ok, known as Dool, practiced hometown love by donating 2 million won to the Haenam-gun Hometown Love Donation Program.

According to the county on the 25th, Dool is known to have a special affection for Haenam, emphasizing several times that his roots are in Haenam and that he is a person of Haenam.

Teacher Kim Yong-ok Dool gave a commemorative lecture for the 100th session of Haenam Autonomous University in July 2019.
[Photo by Haenam-gun]

Dool’s great-grandfather Kim Jung-hyun was appointed as the magistrate of Haenam for his merit in saving Empress Myeongseong during the Imo Incident, and he administered good governance. Poems related to him remain in Haenam-eup, Hyeonsan Wolsong, and Usuyeong.

Also, his grandfather Kim Young-hak, who served as the governor of Dongbok, gave up his official position due to the Japan-Korea Annexation and moved to Haenam, settling in Gye-gok Seongjin. Dool’s mother also lived here for three years after marriage.

Taking this connection as an opportunity, Dool has been promoting the establishment of Haeun Seowon to teach the spirit of Honam to future generations. In 2020, he also opened the Jeonnam Talent Academy at Gahak Mountain Recreation Forest in Gyegok-myeon, demonstrating his special love for his hometown.

In particular, from October 2021 for three months, he undertook the “Rural and Fishing Village Great March” from the southernmost point of Haenam to Chuncheon in Gangwon Province, showing active interest and activities regarding the crisis of rural extinction.

County Governor Myung Hyun-kwan said, “The answer to overcoming the rural extinction crisis and achieving balanced regional development, which Dool Kim Yong-ok has emphasized, lies in the practice of hometown love by those who have left their hometowns. We sincerely thank Dool for his love of his hometown and expect that participation in the Hometown Love Donation Program will be the foundation for regional development.”