'Golf Legend' Park Seri Receives Ben Fleet Award

Yoon Yoon-su, Chairman of Fila Holdings, Co-Recipient
First Korean Woman Honored, Recognized for Strengthening Korea-US Ties

‘Golf Legend’ Park Seri, Co-CEO of Baz International and Chairperson of the Park Seri Hope Foundation, received the Van Fleet Award.

Chairman Park Seri is taking a commemorative photo after receiving the Van Fleet Award.
[Photo by Korea Society]

This year’s award ceremony was held on the 1st (local time) at The Plaza Hotel in New York, USA. The Van Fleet Award, hosted by the Korea Society, a U.S. nonprofit organization, has been given annually since 1992 to individuals who have contributed to the enhancement of Korea-U.S. relations. This year, Chairperson Park and Yoon Yoon-su, Chairman of Fila Holdings, were co-recipients. Past recipients include the late former President Kim Dae-jung, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, and former U.S. President George Bush. Chairperson Park is the first Korean woman to receive this award.

Chairperson Park’s achievements include 25 wins on the U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour, induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and receiving the Bob Jones Award from the United States Golf Association. Even after retirement, she has been fully committed to nurturing the next generation by hosting junior tournaments annually in both the U.S. and Korea. The Korea Society explained the reason for the award as “contributing to strengthening the bond between the U.S. and Korea through sports.”

Chairperson Park said, “I believe this award was given to me because there are many more things I need to do in the future than I have done in the past,” and added, “Beyond sports, I will continue to actively engage in activities in both the U.S. and Korea to achieve greater cooperation and coexistence.”