Chairman Lee Pil-woo of Seoul National University’s Advanced Center for Administrative Development Alumni (SNU-ACADA), concurrently chairman of the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents.

Chairman Lee Pil-woo of Seoul National University’s Advanced Center for Administrative Development Alumni (SNU-ACADA) — concurrently chairman of the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents — likes to mention on his favored Chinese saying “cheonjijigan manmuljijung yuin chaegui,” which means that human beings are the most precious among all things on the Earth, when meeting with his acquaintances. He is also the chairman of the 11th National Assembly Parliamentarians' Committee.

Chairman Lee’s tenet on human development is to cultivate youths who are talented but poor into assets for the state. True to his commitment to human development, Chairman Lee has been contributing his own money to nurture talented manpower.

Chairman Lee, who made his fortune by working during the day and studying at night, has offered a helping hand to destitute students. Lee has played a part in nurturing leaders in many fields by supporting students through the Yeongdong County Scholarship Program, the Scholarship Program for the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents in Seoul and the Pyoam Scholarship Program for the Central Fraternity Association of Gyeongju Lee Genealogy. Scholarship beneficiaries stand at as many as 3,000. 

Chairman Lee Pil-woo and other SNU-ACADA alumni pose together for a group photo while participating in the 2016 annual general meeting and New Year’s greeting event at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul on Feb. 19, 2016.

Chairman Lee established the Yeongdong County Scholarship Program in 2003 by donating 100 million won. It has seen its assets swell to 12 billion won, benefiting many students. The program offered a total of 270 million won in scholarships last year  1.5 million won per university student, 500,000 won per high school student, 300,000 won per middle school student, and 300,000 won per primary student. 

The Scholarship Program for the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents Seoul has provided scholarships to 30 secondary school and university students selected through municipal and county native town bodies every year for the past 12 years. The Central Fraternity Association of Gyeongju, also headed by Chairman Lee, with a membership of 3.5 million, selects 30 students every year and offers 1 million won to each scholarship beneficiary. 

Chairman Lee is devoting himself to conducting a nationwide movement to promote filial piety, one of the waning Korean virtues by presenting filial piety awards to people selected by the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents Seoul and the Central Fraternity Association of Gyeongju Lee Genealogy. 

The Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents Seoul awards filial piety prizes and cash to 50 select people during its annual general meeting. The Central Fraternity Association of Gyeongju Lee Genealogy participates in the movement by awarding filial piety awards each year. 

Lee believes in lifetime learning. He is a native of Gyerong-ni, Chupungryeong-myeon, Yeongdong-gum, Chungcheongbuk-do. At seven, he had learned a thousand Chinese characters from the Chinese literary classic Zhouyi from his father. Lee, who read Confucian scriptures, was dubbed a prodigy. Lee had attained filial piety, loyalty and classical scholar’s spirit while learning Chinese literature, which have now become his lifelong spiritual values. He always values human beings, cherishes his family and relatives and shows generosity to those who drop in his office thanks to the virtues he attained during his childhood. 

SUN-ACADA Chairman Lee Pil-woo gives a plaque of appreciation to former prime minister—ex SNU president Chung Woon-chan, who lectured on shared growth at the SNU-ACADA’s forum.

Chairman Lee is also a native of Yeongdong, Chungcheongbuk-do, the home of filial piety in which many Confucian scholars lived. Lee made filial piety part of his life in accordance with Korean ancestors’ teachings. Yeongdong is the birthplace of Korea’s greatest-ever musician, Park Yeon (1378-1458), who mastered a compilation of aak at the order of King Sejong the Great of the Joseon Dynasty some 600 years ago. 

Yeongdong still has a memorial built at the order of King Taejong of Joseon Dynasty in recognition of the musician’s filial piety. 

“Confucian society values filial piety as the basis of all behaviors. Confucius taught people about respecting for their parents, making parents feel comfortable and holding memorial services for ancestors. Filial piety is valued as the top human virtue in which parents are respected, their will is upheld, and they are served faithfully,” he said. 

Chairman Lee’s conviction toward filial duty is noteworthy He tries to put into practice his lifelong tenets: filial duty and trust. He toured his countryside retreat, called “Yeongchuwon,” in his native town at Gaeryong-ni, Chupung-myon, Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do, when he had a summer vacation last year. 

The retreat, located in a pristine natural setting, is a quiet place in which he practices filial piety, one of Korea’s virtuous ancestral teachings. Yongchuwon is home to his late parents’ tombs, as well as lodging facilities. 

Despite the sweltering summertime weather that hovered around 35 degrees Celsius, Chairman Lee did manual labor with crews there. “I believe that working in my parents’ gravesite is what I ought to do as their off-spring, and I think off-springs should not forget their parents’ devotion, complying with filial piety,” he said.

Chairman Lee Pil-woo of the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents gestures with other association members at the association’s 2015 general meeting and New Year’s greeting event at Lotte Hotel in Sogong-dong, downtown Seoul, on Feb. 26, 2015. (Photo:Chairman Lee Pil-woo’s Office)

While staying at Yongchuwon, Lee always has a meeting with visitors to exchange views and lifelong wisdom after a lunch. Many visitors are so moved to hear Chairman Lee’s humors and tales, which are imbued with wisdom and rich career experiences. One of the visitors compared his meeting with Chairman Lee with the well-known lunch with U.S. millionaire investor Warren Buffet.

Chairman Lee has a plan to utilize Yongchuwon as an educational space to train and nurture talented manpower in which traditional Korean heritage and values can be inherited. 

“Filial piety is a virtue our Koreans cannot discard. Families faithful to filial piety are supposed to give birth to those who can contribute and serve the state,” he said. 

His huge financial contribution to scholarship funds is evidence of his conviction to nurture talented people who can serve the nation. Lee is praised for his strong determination of serving the state. 

He is noted for having maintained close and amicable relationships with former presidents for 61 years. He now recalls his attitude of being humble while staying close with the nation’s power elite for a long period of time.

SNU-ACADA Chairman Lee stresses unlimited responsibility of national leaders whenever he delivers a speech at alumni events in accordance with his conviction that they should be held responsible for the handling of state affairs.

Chairman Lee Pil-woo of the Association of Chungcheongbuk-do Residents in Seoul poses with award winners, Chungcheongbuk-do Gov. Lee Si-jong, Minister of Environment Yoon Sung-kyu and i-KAIST CEO Kim Sung-jin. (Photos:NewsWorld)