[Interview] Park Kyum-soo, Gangbuk District Mayor: "Dream Tree Nurturing Scholarship Foundation Shows 10 Years of Results"

Talented Dreamers Growing into Society's Mainstream... Youth Hope Expedition with Captain Eom Hong-gil Sends 'Challenge and Promise' Message to Adolescents... Park Kyum-su, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, Emphasizes "Character Over Academics" and Pledges to Build Gangbuk as a Future Education City During Remaining Term

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “The most important aspect of education is for children to develop proper character and discover their aptitudes and talents. Rather than forcing academic achievement, we should support the dreams that children hope for.”

In an interview with this publication, Park Kyum-su, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, emphasized Gangbuk-gu’s educational philosophy that prioritizes character and talent development.

Mayor Park stated, “Especially in the arts and physical education fields, recognizing and honing one’s talents from an early age increases the chances of success. The earlier, the better,” adding, “There are cases where children give up their dreams due to financial reasons despite having talent, which is a great loss for the nation. That child could become the next Kim Yuna or Park Ji-sung.” This inspired the conception of the ‘Dream Tree Nurturing Scholarship Foundation’ project.

The Gangbuk-gu Dream Tree Nurturing Scholarship Foundation is unique in that it continuously supports children with outstanding talents in arts and physical education every year until they bear fruit, ensuring they do not give up their dreams due to economic circumstances. This clearly distinguishes it from other scholarship foundations that mainly provide one-time support based on academic performance. Established in 2012, it has supported children with exceptional talents in six fields: music, fine arts, dance, sports, theater, and academics.

The selection process for scholarship recipients is very thorough. First, a primary document screening filters children who meet the criteria. Applicants must reside in Gangbuk-gu or attend kindergartens, elementary, middle, or high schools located in Gangbuk-gu, and come from families whose combined health insurance premium payments are at or below 70% of the median income, demonstrating talent. Students wishing to receive scholarships must submit an application form, a talent development plan, and a recommendation letter from their school principal. The district conducts a second on-site evaluation for preliminary scholarship candidates who pass the first document screening. Expert judges in each field rigorously assess the talents of new and existing scholarship students.

The final selected scholars receive up to 3 million KRW annually from the Dream Tree Scholarship Foundation to cover costs necessary for talent development, such as academy tuition and related supplies. To continue receiving support, scholars must annually prove their talent and potential for growth.

This year, 19 new applicants applied, and 5 were selected. Among the 27 existing scholars, 25 were reselected, making a total of 30 10th-term scholars who received scholarship certificates. Since the foundation’s establishment in April 2012, a total of 179 talented dream trees have benefited from scholarships amounting to 427 million KRW.

Mayor Park said, “The money collected bit by bit from residents has accumulated to assets of about 6 billion KRW for the foundation. In 2011, a preparatory committee was formed, and within five months of soliciting donations from residents, over 570 million KRW necessary to establish the foundation was donated.”

Additionally, he emphasized the message of ‘challenge and promise’ to adolescents through the ‘Youth Hope Expedition’ with Captain Um Hong-gil.

The Youth Hope Expedition is an experiential program where world-renowned mountaineer Captain Um Hong-gil and Gangbuk-gu youth climb mountains together to cultivate dreams, hope, and a spirit of challenge. Mayor Park Kyum-su explained, “It is one of Gangbuk-gu’s representative talent development programs that contributes to character education by resolving issues such as academic stress and internet addiction among youth, fostering resilience and friendship through mountain climbing.”

From 2012 to last year, a total of 577 participants have taken part in nearby mountain hikes, summer and winter camps, and expeditions to Nepal.

This year, the 10th Youth Hope Expedition will conduct a ‘Pilgrimage Trail Trekking with Captain Um Hong-gil’ in conjunction with the April 19 Revolution National Cultural Festival. The district plans to recruit about 60 second-year middle school students from 13 local middle schools for the expedition.

Other initiatives include the Dreamdong-i Preparatory School to help multicultural family students adapt to school, operation of a Youth Counseling Welfare Center providing academic, career, and mental health counseling, butterfly life cycle ecological experience learning, a Career and Job Experience Support Center offering field job experiences linked with the Seoul-style Free Semester System, and a reading culture promotion project to encourage reading habits among daycare parents. These policies support children in developing proper character and growing into outstanding talents in various fields.

These are also part of the 10-year education projects that Mayor Park Kyum-su has pursued since the beginning of his term, looking ahead to the future of Gangbuk-gu.

Mayor Park Kyum-su said, “I believe character is more important than academics for children. I will do my best during the remainder of my term to create a future educational city, Gangbuk, where children can grow properly by thinking from their perspective and considering what they need.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.