The Asan Social Welfare Foundation announced on Tuesday that it awarded 3.94 billion won ($2.8 million) in scholarships and certificates to 498 students, including 410 undergraduates and 88 graduate students, at a ceremony held at the Asan Institute for Life Sciences in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
The foundation established a new scholarship program for biomedical science undergraduates to support students aspiring to become biomedical scientists who have achieved outstanding academic performance despite financial hardship. This year, 35 students were selected for the program.
Scholarships were also awarded to 230 children of uniformed service members under the "Men in Uniform (MIU)" program, established to recognize those serving in the military, police, fire service, and coast guard for national security. An additional 100 students participating in industry-academia cooperation programs and 45 North Korean defector youth also received awards.
The foundation provides annual stipends of 6 million won to biomedical science undergraduates and North Korean defector students, while MIU children and industry-academia cooperation students receive 4 million won annually. The foundation also supports 47 domestic and 31 overseas graduate students in biomedical sciences with 20 to 40 million won annually until graduation, and 10 health policy graduate students with 10 million won per year.
"I hope our scholars will persevere through any difficulties, give their all, and continue to take on challenges to grow into innovative leaders," said Chairman Chung Mong-joon. "The Asan Foundation will strive to contribute to helping our young people nurture their dreams with hope and determination."
Since its establishment in 1977, the Asan Foundation has provided a total of 94.9 billion won in scholarships to approximately 37,000 students.