Park Hyeon Joo Foundation
The Park Hyeon Joo Foundation is behind the variety of outreach activities that the Mirae Asset Financial Group is engaged in. It is a scholarship foundation named after the company’s president. Founded in 2000, the foundation operates under the slogan of “cultivating globally-minded talented personnel.” Of many diverse outreach programs, the most prominent is a scholarship program for Korean college students on an international exchange program. The Park Hyeon Joo scholarship program for exchange students is known as the largest in Korea, awarding 400 exchange students annually. Since its inception, the number of students awarded the scholarship has reached 3317 as of this year.
The vision behind the Park Hyeon Joo Foundation is “Building a Caring Capitalist Society,” which is also one of the main founding philosophies of the Mirae Asset Financial Group. President Park created the foundation in March 2000, only three years after he founded the company in July 1997, with the goal to grow his businesses while at the same time making contributions to the growth of his own neighbors, rather than delaying the latter.
In addition, from his own experience of studying abroad, President Park learned that early exposure to overseas markets and cultivating global-mindedness is most critical. President Park once commented in an interview that when he was first exposed to foreign investment banks in the late 90s, he was shocked to learn that foreign investors all kept their eyes on emerging markets to find high-earning investments. Cho Hyun-wook, the managing director of the social contribution division, said, “Through valuable overseas working experiences, Korean youth will be more likely to grow into global talents.”
Every year since 2000, the foundation has awarded 400 exchange students scholarships for exchange programs in 40 countries including the United States, Canada, Europe, India, Mexico and Colombia.
In addition to the scholarship program, the foundation is also involved in various social welfare programs such as community outreach programs targeting undernourished children and children of low-income families, and the in-house promotion of donations and volunteer activities.
Since 2008, the foundation has been engaged in improving children’s studying centers. Under the program entitled "Mirae Asset’s Hope Book Café,” Mirae Asset provides books and support for interior design that are worth around 10 million won (US$8,438) for each facility. In 2011, the program was expanded to include renovation efforts of facilities inside these community centers including kitchen, bathroom, and studying areas. In the past 5 years, 60 community centers have benefited from such efforts.
Overall, since the inception in March 2000, the Park Hyeon Joo Foundation produces 5900 beneficiaries of the scholarship program, 12,000 beneficiaries for cultural programs, and 12,000 beneficiaries for economic education programs, which together amount to 118,000 beneficiaries.