"Built a Building After 15 Years of Saving"... Sean Completes World's First Lou Gehrig Care Hospital with 23.9 Billion Won Investment

Preparing with ALS patient and former basketball coach Park Seung-il
Mr. Park passed away three months before completion in September last year

Singer Sean fulfilled a dream he shared with the late basketball coach Park Seung-il after 15 years. They completed the construction of the world's first Lou Gehrig's disease care hospital.

On the 5th, Sean revealed the 'Seungil Hope Care Hospital' located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, for the first time on his YouTube channel 'With Sean.' In the video, Sean turned on the camera in Jamsil, Seoul, and said, "I built a building in Yongin. I worked really hard for 15 years to save up. The building is all finished. It's about 42 km to the building, so let's go together," and started running.

Singer Sean is introducing Seungil Hope Nursing Hospital, a specialized hospital for ALS. YouTube channel 'With Sean'

Having completed a full marathon distance, Sean arrived in Yongin and explained, "This is the building I mentioned earlier. It is the first Lou Gehrig's disease care hospital in Korea and the world, a dream shared by my late friend and co-CEO Park Seung-il." He added, "Today is the completion day. The exterior construction is finished, but the interior is not yet complete, so we plan to finish all the setup by the end of January and open in March."

The video also featured Park Seung-il's sister, Park Sung-ja, the executive director of the Seungil Hope Foundation. When Park mentioned that the hospital's signboard was installed on the day of filming, Sean joked, "Running 42.28 km was worth it." Throughout the hospital, there were thoughtful touches not only for the patients but also for the staff caring for them. More than 350,000 people raised a total of 23.9 billion won through initiatives like the Ice Bucket Challenge to build this hospital, and a donation wall bearing their names will also be created.

Sean also shared the story of his first meeting with Park Seung-il. He said, "A church deacon gave me a book written by Seung-il using eye mouse technology, and I read it all in one day. It said that Seung-il's dream was to build the first Lou Gehrig's disease hospital in Korea." At that time, Sean had prepared 100 million won to use for a good cause. He said, "I thought it was right to give this money to Seung-il's dream, so I wrote a 100 million won check and went to see him." He recalled, "At first, I didn't know how to approach him. You feel that way in front of someone who is ill. But Seung-il, who was one year older, approached me comfortably and said, 'Let's be friends.'"

A photo of Seung-il Park during his lifetime. Captured from the YouTube channel 'Seon and Together'

Sean said, "In the book, Seung-il wrote that if he had about 1 billion won, he could build a specialized Lou Gehrig's hospital. Both Seung-il and I, who believed that, didn't really understand the world well," adding, "The construction costs kept rising, so it became a 23.9 billion won building." He also said, "Seung-il dreamed of this for 22 years, but it's very sad that he passed away before seeing it completed." Then Sean performed the Ice Bucket Challenge in minus 1-degree weather, calling it "the last gift to Seung-il." After successfully completing the challenge, he said, "CEO Park Seung-il, please take on the challenge from heaven," pointing to Park Seung-il.

Sean urged, "Since this is the world's first Lou Gehrig's disease care hospital, building it is not the end. It must be well operated and well cared for so that by seeing our hospital, similar hospitals can be established in Korea and other parts of the world. I hope more people will take interest and support its operation."

Park Seung-il was a basketball player at Yonsei University and Kia Motors' amateur team before working as a coach for the professional basketball team Ulsan Mobis in 2002. He was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and battled it for 23 years. He passed away on September 25 last year at the age of 53. Together with Sean, he founded the nonprofit Seungil Hope Foundation in 2011 and carried out various fundraising activities, including the Ice Bucket Challenge, to build the Lou Gehrig's disease care hospital.