President's donation.

(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on July 8) -- For a self-made man like President Lee Myung-bak, 33 billion won is a big fortune. Donating that much amount to establish a scholarship foundation is a laudable act of philanthropy. The fact that the decision had been made during his presidential campaign and that the actual transfer came a year and a half later does not at all diminish the significance of the deed. According to presidential aides and the staff at the new Cheonggye Foundation, named after the penname of the president, some 1 billion won will be set aside to support as many as 200 students each year. President Lee expressed a great joy at being able to "return the favors given to me by so many warm-hearted people" while he was a struggling young student from a poor family. The president released an emotional note on his donation, mentioning his middle school teacher who pushed him to go to high school, a shop owner who shared a space where the future president could sell in a marketplace, other merchants there who employed him as a sweeper so he could earn his tuition for his four years at Korea University, and his mother who prayed for him in early morning every day. "I have thought that using my money for a worthy cause is one way of repaying my debts to them. ... I am happy and thankful today because I am now doing that." During the time announcement of the donation was put back, his political opponents sneered that the president was eating his words in the face of objections from his family. Four months ago, the president finally entrusted a group of notable figures to decide on what to do with the donation, consisting of his entire personal assets ...