Shin Young-kyun, a former movie star-turned-politician, said Wednesday he has offered his land in Seoul to build a memorial hall for South Korea’s first president, Rhee Syng-man (1875-1965).
In an inaugural meeting of a private foundation pushing for Rhee’s memorial hall last week, Shin revealed his intention to donate the land measuring approximately 13,000 square meters located on the southeastern bank of the Han River in the Gangdong district.
“I heard that the former President Rhee used to go fishing there,” Shin told Yonhap News Agency over the phone. “I decided to donate the land as it is associated with the former president.”
He is known to own about 80,000 square meters of land in the area designated as a greenbelt zone, which is protected from development.
“The land is currently part of a greenbelt zone and is not used for other purposes. If the government decides, a memorial hall could be built in the area,” he added.
The foundation is led by former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-shik, and Shin was appointed as a founding member along with several scions of late presidents, including Rhee, Park Chung-hee, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung.
Shin, a two-time conservative lawmaker and an honorary chairman of Hanju Holdings Korea, said he decided to join the foundation as he respects the late president, who is from the same hometown as him.
Born in Pyeongsan in Hwanghae Province, now part of North Korea, in 1928, Shin briefly worked as a dentist after graduating from the Seoul National University and debuted in the film industry with movie “Widow” in 1960.
The movie star appeared in over 300 films in the 1960s and 1970s, but retired from acting and led a federation of Korean artists in the early 1980s and served as a lawmaker from 1996 to 2004. He is now a senior adviser of the ruling People Power Party.
In 2010, he donated his Myungbo Art Hall in Seoul and the Sinyoung Cinema Museum on the southern resort island of Jeju to establish the Shin Young Kyun Arts and Cultural Foundation, which supports young talent in the Korean film industry.
Rhee, who formed a Korean exile government during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule, was elected as the first president of the Republic of Korea in 1948, but his presidency ended in 1960 amid widespread protest against his regime. He went into exile in Hawaii where he spent the rest of his life.
His legacy still remains a topic of debate as conservatives consider him as one of the founding fathers of South Korea who contributed to the country’s development, while liberals criticize his presidency marked by political and social unrest and allegations of corruption.
Source: Yonhap News Agency