On September 19, Mrs. Samyeol Kim visited KAIST’s Seoul Campus and donated real estate properties worth five billion won to the university. Such a donation was exceptional considering the 30 billion won contribution made by President Byeongho Kim, Mrs. Kim's husband, back in 2009.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim opened Seojeon Orchard, a natural park located in Yongin, in 1988 and have been successful in the business for 20 years. President Kim, who always had the idea of giving back his wealth to society, donated 30 billion won as a way to encourage gifted students at KAIST who will be leading Korea in the future. To praise the couple’s generosity, KAIST has named a new building the “Kim Byeongho - Kim Samyeol IT Center,” after their names.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim’s donation also inspired Chunshik Cho, former board member of The Bank of Korea, to donate ten billion won to KAIST in 2010. Mr. Cho said, “I got interested in KAIST when I heard about Mr. Kim’s big contribution. I made my decision after talking to President Nam Pyo Suh.”

Mrs. Kim had originally kept the property she is donating to build a mansion, which she was planning to build in the future for the couple’s 30th wedding anniversary. She stated, “I believe it can be used in a more valuable way at KAIST. It was harder to make the decision the second time round, but I made up my mind when I thought about President Suh, the professors, the students and faculty who spend day and night working for Korea’s development in science and technology.”

Mr. and Mrs. Kim, who donated most of their wealth to KAIST, are currently staying at a retirement village. They have shown an abiding interest in KAIST through their blogs. President Suh mentioned, “Mrs. Kim’s donation has greatly contributed to the spreading of the “donation virus” and will be marked as the beginning of a new chapter. Her generosity will prove invaluable in KAIST’s development.”