San Francisco, January 17, 2014: At a formal ceremony at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco, Samsung President Charlie Young Chang Bae presented Foundation Secretary John Stevens with a check for $150,000 toward the cost of constructing the Korean War Memorial. Consul General Han Dong-man then presented Mr. Bae with a plaque expressing the gratitude of the Republic of Korea for Samsung’s generosity.
From left to right: Han Dong-man, Consul General, Republic of Korea, San Francisco; John Stevens, Secretary, Korean War Memorial Foundation; Charlie Young Chang Bae, President, Samsung Semiconductor; and Shawn Lee, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Samsung Semiconductor
“On behalf of Samsung,” Mr. Bae remarked, “I am honored to be able to contribute to the Korean War Memorial Foundation. All of us at Samsung are deeply aware of the significance of this war.”
“This donation couldn’t have come at a better time,” added Mr. Stevens, a Marine veteran of the Korean War. “We need to raise a total of $2.7 million to complete the Memorial. Samsung’s generosity and that of other recent donors now bring us up to just under $675,000. Nearly all of this has come from our Foundation’s officers and other Korean War veterans and their families; the local Korean-American community; and Korean corporations doing business in this country. We hope to reach $1 million very soon.”
That $1 million mark is critical, because the Korean government has pledged $1 million to the Memorial – but only on condition that the Foundations succeeds in raising $1 million in matching funds from private sector sources by February 28. Other Korean companies that have donated so far include Ahntech, Asiana Airlines, NeoSpeech, and USS-POSCO.
Donations from several U.S. corporations and foundations are now pending, and the Korean War Memorial Foundation hopes to reach its matching funds target soon. In the meantime, the Foundation continues to move forward on two fronts: the remainder of the fundraising campaign, and the planning, design, and construction of the Memorial.