Kim Gun-ho, Honorary Director of Samyuk University Museum, Donates 4 National Heritage Items

The Samyook University Museum announced on the 13th that its honorary director, Mr. Kim Geon-ho Dasong, donated four national heritage items to the Samyook University Museum.

Kim Gun-ho, Honorary Director of the Sahmyook University Museum (left), and Je Hae-jong, President of Sahmyook University (right), are taking a commemorative photo for the donation of a national heritage item.
[Photo by Sahmyook University]

The national heritage items donated by Honorary Director Kim include one 19th-century blue-and-white porcelain jar with grapevine design, two 12th-century black-and-white inlaid celadon cups and cup stands with chrysanthemum patterns, and one 18th-century blue-and-white porcelain jar with dragon design, totaling four pieces. The appraised value reaches approximately 40 million KRW.

Having worked in the lumber industry his entire life, he first encountered antiques by chance in his early twenties in Hadong, Gyeongnam, which sparked his interest. Since 1978, he has collected artworks for 45 years. In 1994, he established the Jinju Daboseong, an antique art exhibition hall, and also served as a director of the Korean Antique Art Association. In 1999, he donated over 2,500 Chinese and Korean antiques to Samyook University, including a Han Dynasty (3rd century BCE) bronze inscription mold and a Spring and Autumn Period (3rd to 5th century BCE) bronze inscription vessel.

Based on this donation, the Samyook University Museum opened in July 2000. Currently, on the second floor of the museum, the ‘Dasong Donation Artifacts Room’ is arranged with items donated by Honorary Director Kim. He has donated over 3,000 national heritage items, including bronze artifacts and woodworking tools, to Samyook University. Notably, in 2008, he acquired and donated biblical artifacts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, contributing to the foundation of the Christian History Museum.

Honorary Director Kim said, "I am honored to be able to convey historical and cultural values to many people through the artifacts I have collected." Je Hae-jong, President of Samyook University, stated, "The donated items will be permanently exhibited in the Dasong Donation Artifacts Room within the museum and will serve as important educational materials to understand the value of Korean culture and history."