Yoon Awards National Medal to Father Yu E-bae, Who Cared for Hansen's Disease Patients for 40 Years

Award Ceremony for 'National Recommendation Awards' Held at Yongsan Presidential Office
Moranjang Awards Presented to Father Yu Uibae and Honorary Chairman Son Jaehan

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] President Yoon Suk-yeol awarded the Order of Civil Merit, Moran Medal to Father Yu Uibae, a Spanish national who has served people with severe disabilities for over 40 years, and Honorary Chairman Son Jaehan, who has donated assets worth over 70 billion won to support scholarship students.

On the morning of the 16th, President Yoon held the 12th National Recommendation Awards ceremony at the Yongsan Presidential Office building, presenting medals and commendations to Father Yu, Chairman Son, and others who have dedicated themselves to various fields in our society.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is saluting the national flag at the National Recommendation Award Ceremony held on the 16th at the Jayu Hall of the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At this ceremony, Father Yu, who has devoted 42 years to serving Hansen’s disease patients and people with severe disabilities, and Chairman Son, who has donated assets worth approximately 70.4 billion won to select and support scholarship students for 10 years, were awarded the Order of Civil Merit, Moran Medal. Additionally, the self-employed late Sung Oksim, who operated a fabric store and inn in the market throughout her life and donated 500 million won to Chungnam National University to help underprivileged students, was honored with the Order of Civil Merit, Presidential Citation.

The National Recommendation Awards is a system where citizens directly recommend neighbors practicing sharing and volunteering, and after review by the Government Awards Review Committee, the government presents awards. Above all, it is significant as the "only award chosen by the people." Since its inception in 2011, this year marks the 12th National Recommendation Awards. Over the past year (July 1, 2021 ? June 30, 2022), 620 nominations recommended by citizens were reviewed through document and field investigations and committee evaluations to select the awardees. Notably, to encourage public participation, an online public vote was also conducted last October.