A scholarship fund is created in honor of the late professor emeritus Jae-seok Choi, a great leader in the history of Korean sociology   
His wife Mrs. Chun-gye Lee donates her inherited apartment for the students of her husband

▲ Professor Emeritus Chun-gye Lee at Dongguk University (left) and KU President Jaeho Yeom (right) at the donation ceremony

A scholarship fund will be established and named after the late Professor Emeritus Jae-seok Choi, a sociologist who made great achievements in the history of Korean sociology and Korea-Japan relations.

Mrs. Chun-gye Lee (87 years old), wife of the late Professor Jae-seok Choi (Department of Sociology) who passed away at the age of 90 last October, donated an apartment located in Gangnam, which was inherited from Professor Choi, to respect the wishes of her husband.

As Mrs. Lee has expressed her intention to donate the apartment located in Ilwon-dong, Gangnam-gu (worth approximately KRW 1,090 million) to Korea University. Korea University will sell the apartment and establish a scholarship fund (Choi Jae-seok Scholarship) for students in the Department of Sociology, where Professor Choi taught. 

Korea University expressed its gratitude to Mrs. Chun-gye Lee at the donation ceremony held at 11:30 am on February 27 at the KU Main Hall.

The late Professor Emeritus Jae-seok Choi was a sociologist who made remarkable achievements in the history of Korean sociology and Korea-Japan relations. Against the colonial view of history, in more than 100 papers and books, he constantly tried to prove the falsehood of the existence of the Imna Japanese local government by which the Japanese claim to have ruled southern Korea in ancient times. However, he experienced extreme mental anguish due to some Korean historians who accepted the distorted history of ancient Korea-Japan relations spread throughout the world and the Japanese colonial view of history. Nevertheless, the more he suffered, the more he devoted himself to research, and he was able to publish an average of six research papers each year for 50 years. Upon his death, the late Professor Choi expressed his appreciation to his wife Mrs. Lee for understanding his indifference to everything other than his research.

▲ Mrs. Chun-gye Lee (Professor Emeritus at Dongguk University)

At the donation ceremony, Chair of the Department of Sociology Jin-young Kim recalled the late Professor Choi, “The late Professor Jae-seok Choi accomplished outstanding research achievements in family sociology, rural sociology, and social history. He was the leading sociology researcher in Korea and published a total of 327 academic papers. His representative papers, including A Study of the Korean Family (1966), A Study of Korean Rural Society (1975), Kinships in Jeju Island (1979), and A Study of Korean Institutional History (1983), are important academic publications frequently referred to in relevant fields.”

Mrs. Chun-gye Lee talked about the motivation of her donation; “My husband dedicated himself to his studies throughout his life. He wanted to help social science students and watch the field of social sciences flourish. This is why I decided to donate my realty to Korea University.”

KU President Jaeho Yeom responded, “I was impressed with the late Professor Jae-seok Choi’s lecture when I was an undergraduate student. He gave his all to his research. His books were required readings for us, and I know that he wrote more than one book every year, even after retirement.” He also expressed his gratitude and respect towards Professor Choi, “He was a true researcher who devoted his life to his studies. He even regarded curiosity, self-esteem, and solitude as the most important virtues required for researchers. I believe that students who will receive the Choi Jae-seok Scholarship will take a leaf out of Professor Choi’s book and become leaders in the field of Korean sociology.”