Chairman Chey Shin-won Participates in UWW Leadership Council Meeting
SKC chairman introduces the activities of the Honor Society as a model of Korea’s innovative donation culture
Chairman succeeds in attracting the 2015 UWW Leadership Council to Seoul
Chairman suggests exploration of common agendas, cooperation among Korea’s Honor Society, the USA’s Tocqueville Society, and the UWW Leadership Council

SKC Chairman Chey Shin-won was the sole attendee from the Asia Pacific region at the United Way Worldwide Leadership Council meeting held in London for three days from December 29 (UK time). During the meeting Chairman Chey introduced aspects of Korea’s unique donation culture, and particularly the activities of the Honor Society, and ed the convocation of the 2015 UWW Leadership Council meeting in Seoul.

At the event, which brought together more than seventy representatives from thirty-one countries, Chairman Chey discussed the development of Korean enterprises, and introduced outstanding examples of donations, including the case of an old lady who donated the entire wealth she had accumulated during her life as a peddler, and the case of a man who donated the money he’d earned through shoe-shining work. Chairman Chey highlighted Korea’s rapid economic development and the _ base_ of its donation culture, drawing keen attention and sympathy from participants.

Chairman Chey also succeeded in attracting the UWW Leadership Council meeting, an event usually held in Europe, to Seoul, a milestone that is expected to help spread the donation culture in the Asia Pacific region as well as in Korea. Participants in return showed keen interest in Chairman Chey’s suggestion, and ed the hosting of the 2015 Leadership Council Conference in Seoul.

Meanwhile, mentioning North Korean defectors and multicultural families in South Korea, issues in which he has shown a keen interest in recent years, Chairman Chey said, “I believe that our society should cope with global issues such as multicultural families with a long-term perspective and vision, and more proactively address the North Korean defector issue by envisioning a unified Korea,” stressing that the country should provide more ample assistance to these fields.

Additionally, Chairman Chey stressed that these issues are common agendas that the whole world, going beyond Korea and Asia, should join hands to address, saying that, “I hope that Korea’s Honor Society, the USA’s Tocqueville Society, and the UWW will join forces to explore common agendas such as these, and continue to work together,” appealing for greater attention to be paid to them.

Meanwhile, the UWW Leadership Council presented a plaque of appreciation to Chairman Chey in recognition of his far-reaching activities in the Leadership Council and his contribution to spreading the donation culture.

Chairman Chey was appointed as the first Asian member of the UWW Leadership Council under the UWW, a global gathering of major donators, in November 2012. While he delivered a speech at the invitation of the Leadership Council and the UWW (to which the council belongs) at last year’s meeting, he attended this year’s meeting in his capacity as a Council member.

The UWW Leadership Council, an organization of the UWW chaired by Michael K Hayde, has the aim of promoting large donations of funds by entrepreneurs.

Currently, the UWW has about 1,800 branches in 41 countries and territories worldwide, and raised a combined total of US$5.1 billion in 2010, which translates into about 6 trillion won. The organization has more than 10 million donors and 2 million volunteers in the U.S. alone, and is gradually expanding the scope of its activities to the Asian region.

The UWW is both a central body that provides services in education, training and consulting to its 1,800 member organizations worldwide, and a hub organization that assists local communities’ social welfare programs through fundraising and fund distribution.

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