Dr. Hwa-do Kwang-woon Cho, Founder of Kwangwoon Foundation,

Observance of the 44th Memorial Service

- "In Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the Founding, We Will Do Our Best to Inherit and Develop the Founder's Educational Philosophy" -

The 44th memorial service for Dr. Hwa-do Kwang-woon Cho, founder of Kwangwoon Foundation, was held on April 19th at 11 a.m. at the Founder's grave in Wolgye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul. The event was attended by the deceased's family, executives of Kwangwoon Foundation and Hwa-do Memorial Foundation, department heads and staff members of Kwangwoon Foundation’s affiliated institutions, alumni association executives, and distinguished guests including Jong-ki Kim, the honorary chairman of the Green Tree Foundation.

The memorial service was held in the following order: opening remarks by Seok-jae Jeong, the Dean of the Office of Planning at Kwangwoon University, who served as the moderator; an introduction of the biography of the deceased by Soo-young Cho, a student from the Division of International Studies of Kwangwoon University; eulogies by  Sun-young Cho, the Chairman of Kwangwoon Foundation, Do-bong Kim, the Principal of Kwangwoon Artificial Intelligence High School, and Min-soo Kim, the President of the Kwangwoon University Alumni Association; and wreaths tributes  and moments of silence by all attendees.

Sun-young Cho, Chairman of Kwangwoon Foundation, said, "Ninety years ago, when the nation was suffering under Japanese colonial rule, the founder firmly believed that science and technology education would be the foundation for our nation’s independence and economic self-reliance, and he took the initiative to cultivate young talents." She also said, "Even in this year, marking the 90th anniversary of the founding, we promise to unite as one in the spirit of the founder's educational philosophy, based on practicality and humanism, and to further develop Kwangwoon's education."

Dr. Hwa-do Kwang-woon Cho, the founder of Kwangwoon University’s predecessor, Kwangwoon Institute, as the first institution to establish an electronic engineering department in Korea, was born in Incheon in 1899. During the Japanese colonial era, he firmly believed that teaching science and technology to young people was the only way to save the nation. In 1934, he established the Chosun Radio Training Institute, sowing the seeds of national education on barren soil and nurturing them carefully.

After liberation, Dr. Kwang-woon Cho founded Kwangwoon Academy with Joseon Radio Training Institute as its model and dedicated to education and nurturing talents needed for national construction and economic development. He was recognized for his significant contributions to national education by being awarded the Order of Civil Merit of Dongbaekjang and an honorary doctorate in law from Hanyang University. Currently, there are five educational institutions under Kwangwoon Foundation: Kwangwoon University, Kwangwoon Artificial Intelligence High School, Kwangwoon Middle School, Namdaemun Middle School, and Kwangwoon Elementary School.

Meanwhile, at last year's 43rd memorial service, Kwangwoon Foundation declared its commitment to establish fundamental measures to eradicate school violence and cyberbullying and to expand educational cooperation with the government, NGOs, and local communities, and it plans to continue these efforts in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of its founding.

- Chairman Sun-young Cho of Kwangwoon Foundation delivering a eulogy at the 44th memorial service for Dr. Hwa-do Kwang-woon Cho.

- Jang-ho Cheon, President of Kwangwoon University, lays a wreath at the 44th memorial service for Dr. Hwa-do Kwang-woon Cho.

- Participants at the 44th memorial service for Dr. Hwa-do Kwang-woon Cho paying tribute to the founder's grave.