Masan Yongma High School's 100th Anniversary Celebrated with Three Major Events

Group photo of the 100th Anniversary Project Report Meeting at Masan Yongma High School, Gyeongnam.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Song Jong-gu] Masan Yongma High School in Gyeongnam, which opened on April 25, 1922, celebrated the finale of its 100th anniversary projects this year with three events on the 27th: the groundbreaking ceremony for the 100th Anniversary Hall, the publication commemorations of the Masan Yongma High School Centennial History and the Upa Scholarship Foundation 25-Year History, and the 100th Anniversary Project Report Meeting.

The remaining project of the 100th anniversary is the ‘100th Anniversary Hall,’ scheduled for completion in the first half of 2024.

On this day, about 300 people including Superintendent of Education Park Jong-hoon, Chairman of the March 15th Independence Movement Memorial Project Association Joo Im-hwan, related institution heads, and alumni attended to offer their congratulations.

When asked about the significance of this event, Seo Jeong-rim, Chairperson of the Promotion Committee and President of the General Alumni Association, said, “This event set milestones that embody Masan Yongma’s resilience in proudly overcoming numerous hardships over 100 years and committing to a brighter and greater future. The book ‘Upa Scholarship Foundation 25-Year History’ commemorates the path and scholarship projects of the late Chairman Choi Young-seok of Upa (愚波), serving as a model for local scholarship foundations. The ‘Masan Yongma High School Centennial History’ is a precious book that contains the history of our region from the Japanese colonial period to the present and the 100-year footsteps of Masan Yongma High School. It covers the trajectories over the past century across all fields including local history, our alma mater, the General Alumni Association, affiliated alumni groups, regional alumni associations, and the school journal ‘Yongma.’ I am confident these books will serve as stepping stones toward the next millennium of Masan Yongma High School.”

In his congratulatory speech, Superintendent Park Jong-hoon said, “The 100 years of Masan Yongma High School stand as an example demonstrating the competitiveness of local education and will be a good case to resolve various issues caused by the concentration in the metropolitan area and regional neglect. I have no doubt that it will continue to play a pivotal role in regional development as it enters a new century.”

After opening as Masan Public Commercial School on April 25, 1922, the school changed its name to Masan (Public) Commercial Middle School on September 1, 1946, then separated into Masan Commercial High School and Masan East Middle School on September 1, 1951. On March 1, 2001, it was renamed and restructured as the humanities-oriented Masan Yongma High School. The total number of graduates has reached 32,590.

Kang Ki-cheol, Executive Chairman of the 100th Anniversary, said, “When we built the alumni hall 10 years ago, more than 1,000 alumni participated and raised 6 billion won. There is a saying that the darker the night, the brighter the stars shine. In the passionate spirit of the alumni who consider celebrating the 100th anniversary of our alma mater a happy destiny, even the global COVID-19 pandemic could not dampen our spirits.”

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