No. 156 / Mar 7, 2022
On December 31, 2021, a ceremony to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of Dr. Hwang Pil-sang was held at Ajou University. If The Ajou Globe (The AG) described Dr. Hwang in one word, it would be that he was the tree in the book of The Giving Tree. Who is he for whom a memorial ceremony is being held at Ajou University? At the age of 26, he entered the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ajou University. In 1991, he founded the newspaper Suwon Crossroads and, in 2003, he donated 17.7 billion won which were 90% of Suwon Crossroads stock to Ajou University.
However, the tax office demanded a gift tax of 14 billion won on the grounds that, despite being a donation, it was a free gift. Dr. Hwang, who could not afford the tax, filed a lawsuit against this decision in 2009. As the lawsuit continued for more than seven years, the gift tax increased to 22.5 billion won. In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unreasonable to impose a large gift tax on donations and the lawsuit was dismissed. Ajou University established the Guwon Scholarship Foundation based on Dr. Hwang’s donations. Each year, 100 outstanding college students from 19 domestic universities are chosen to receive the scholarship. Dr. Hwang died on December 31, 2018, at the age of 71, not long after the lawsuit ended, due to the stress he suffered from the long-term lawsuit.
When asked if he would make the same decision that he made in 2003 to donate to the University, he said yes. His cadaver was donated to the Ajou University Medical Center for medical advancement. Thus, he can be compared to the generous tree in The Giving Tree who gave everything he had to the world.
By Kim Min-ji, AG Reporter
mmoboo77@ajou.ac.kr
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