A helping hand from Segok-dong scholarship foundation

Oh Wang-geun, chairman of the Segok Sharing Scholarship Foundation, speaks during an interview at his office in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, on November 21 / Reporter Ryu In-ha.

In Segok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, there's a somewhat special ‘study room.’ Every Tuesday evening, 20 middle and high school students living in Segok-dong visit the Segok-dong Community Center for one-on-one tutoring. The teachers instructing the children are servicemembers from the Air Force's 15th Special Mission Wing.

This year marks the 14th year since the ‘Segok Youth Study Room’ opened its doors. Since first opening in 2012, it has never closed once, except during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oh Wang-geun, the 72-year-old chairman of the SegokSharing Scholarship Foundation, is also the CEO of Korea’s No. 1 tacker (staple gun) manufacturing company. When we met him at his factory office in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, on November 21, he was wearing his company work uniform as usual.

“My mother-in-law was a Buddhist, yet she consistently donated to Christian hospitals for the treatment of the visually impaired. Even on her 60th and 70th birthdays, she said, ‘Why waste money on a feast when you could just eat a meal and be done with it?’ and donated all the funds meant for celebrations to organizations for the visually impaired.” His mother-in-law passed away in 2012 at the age of 93. After the funeral, approximately 30 million won remained. Around that time, he was asked if he would take over a scholarship foundation. The 30 million won left by his mother-in-law became the seed money for the foundation.

The foundation's first initiative was opening a study center. Chairman Oh visited the Air Force base in Segok-dong (the 15th Special Mission Wing) and requested, “Couldn't the soldiers volunteer their talents to help children who can't afford cram schools?” They were provided the Segok-dong Community Center auditorium as the venue.

Children from low-income households, single-parent families, grandparent-headed families, and multicultural families residing in Segok-dong gathered at the study room. Once a week for two hours, they received one-on-one tutoring in subjects like English and math from Air Force personnel. The soldiers went beyond being mere tutors, volunteering as mentors to the students.

The scholarship foundation also provides learning materials for the children, along with snacks like bread and milk to share during study time. To date, Chairman Oh has never made an official visit to the study room. He stated, “I occasionally peek in from outside and leave; I don't meet the children face-to-face. Why burden them unnecessarily?”

The foundation's activities extend beyond running the study rooms. It has partnered with a renowned college admissions consulting firm in Daechi-dong to conduct annual ‘on-siteadmissions consultations’ for the study room students. This provides high-cost consulting sessions, typically priced at 500,000 to 1,000,000 won per session, free of charge. Even parents who are usually busy with dual careers make sure to attend these counseling sessions with their children. Chairman Oh laughed, saying, “It might just be our most popular program, even more so than the study rooms.”

Scholarships are also awarded annually to high school and college students. High school students receive 1 million won, while college students get 2 million won. “We accept applications. It's like writing a plan explaining how that money will be used to realize their dreams.” Starting with 14 students in 2015, up to 68 Segok-dong students receive scholarships annually. Including 42 this year, a total of 273 students have received scholarships over the past 11 years. The scholarship foundation also consistently organizes events like visits to the Seoul National University campus and overnight history and culture experience trips.

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.