SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY (SKKU), SEOUL, KOREA

Jai Seong Song

President of Youngdong University
Class of 1972, College of Law

Alumnus Song entered the college of law at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in 1968. Upon his enrolment he studied for the higher civil service examination. After he successfully passed the exam, he started his career at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. When he became the head of the Office for Social Welfare Policy in 2004, he briskly; came forward to enact the Emergency Aid and Support Act and established the '129 Emergency Call' program at the Health and Welfare Call Center. In Korea, number 119 is for emergency patients but number 129 is for those facing welfare emergencies. When a person in welfare distress calls the number, they may get support worth two months' living expenses, get help finding jobs and get advice for rehabilitation.

After finishing his civil service career, he came back to his hometown Youngdong and became the president of Youngdong University to nurture creative talents. It was common during the Joseon Dynasty for scholars to go back to their hometowns to educate the younger generation after achieving fame and prestige. And thus President Song follows in the footsteps of these Joseon scholars.

As president, he focuses on humanities and personality education. During the very first month as a freshman, students get intensive personality education. Students make a blue print for their lives and plan the long term goals as part of the program. President Song emphasized reading cultural books in philosophy, psychology and history, that are essential for understanding the humanities, and hopes that students learn to sacrifice, cooperate, serve and care for others due to their humanities education.

"Successful people travel a lot. They know when they have to take action." Song wants young students to travel the world as much as they can and learn from the actual experiences. What he believes is that travel is the true medium of connecting person to person. Therefore, he advises to his students to travel a lot to learn true communication skills.