The 20th Endowment Ceremony of Evergreen Humans was held on May 16th at the Korea Press Center for Honorary President Chungsik Chang and Poet Koeun, who were selected as Korea’s Evergreen Humans.
An endowment ceremony was held by the Korea Evergreen Association and Evergreen Association members, including the endowment chairmen of the Korea Evergreen Committee. At the ceremony, Honorary President Chungsik Chang and poet Koeun (endowed fellow at Dankook University) were endowed as Evergreen Humans before Yongbok Kim, Honorary President of Seoul Yeongdong Farm, and about 200 congratulators attending the event.
“Selecting Evergreen Humans isn’t about giving awards, but about endowing the selected recipients as living evergreen humans,” said Honorary President Juyeong Lee of the Korea Evergreen Association. “We select award recipients through strict evaluation of prominent elders (over 70 years old) in society who have participated in volunteer work and shown dedication for more than 30 years.”
In the opening speech, Lee also said that the selected award recipients this year are the finest among many recommended candidates and that he is very happy to endow such fine citizens.
According to the Korea Evergreen Association, candidates must be over 70 years old because among people who succeeded early in their life, some are corrupted.
“I have gained a lot personally from the challenges in the process of publishing the Korean-to-Chinese Unabridged Dictionary, which is the most comprehensive such dictionary in the world, being the first among Korean universities to develop and achieve the Saemaeul Movement at Chungyang (Chungnam Province), contributing in South and North Korean exchange and composing a united team of South and North Korea as a representative for North-South Sports Meet, and worthiness of opening a new study path for students who have been expelled for participating in student activism,” expressed Honorary President Chang upon receipt of the award.
▶ Honorary president, Chungsik Chang receives his endowment medal.
▶ Poet Koeun (endowed fellow at Dankook University) receives his endowment medal.
▶ Honorary President Chungsik Chang (middle) and poet Koeun (left) take a photograph after receiving endowment medals.
▶ Commemorative photo time after ‘The 20th Endowment Ceremony of Evergreen Humans.’