Chairman Lee Jung-geun of Booyoung Group Donates Buses to Laos Following Cambodia Donation

Lee Jung-geun, Chairman of Booyoung Group
Receives Highest Medal and Honorary Citizenship from Laos Government
Following 1,200 Buses in Cambodia, 600 Buses Delivered to Laos

"We hope that the national power of Laos will be enhanced through public transportation buses, and that this will serve as an opportunity to strengthen friendship and cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Laos," said Lee Joong-geun, Chairman of Booyoung Group, on the 13th (local time) as he donated 600 buses to Laos.

1. Receiving the National Merit Medal from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (left in the photo). 2. The bus donated to Cambodia. 3. Awarded honorary citizenship by Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone (right in the photo).

Chairman Lee, who is known as the 'Hallyu Santa Claus' in Southeast Asia for his borderless social contribution activities, is continuing his bus donations beyond Cambodia to Laos. Booyoung Group announced on the 14th that it held a ceremony to donate 600 buses in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Laos. Following the donation of 1,200 buses to Cambodia in February this year to improve public transportation in major cities of Cambodia and Laos, Chairman Lee has now donated 600 buses to Laos as well.

At the donation ceremony, Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of Laos, representing the Laotian government, awarded Chairman Lee honorary citizenship of Laos and the 1st Class Development Medal, the highest grade medal available to foreigners, in recognition of his contributions to the social and economic development of Laos.

There was a strong resolve behind Chairman Lee’s donations of buses to Cambodia and Laos. Regarding the background of the bus donation, he said, "During a business trip, I saw a mother carrying children on a motorcycle without any protective measures in the scorching heat. I thought about the dangerous situation where if the child holding onto the mother’s waist from behind were to lose grip, it could result in a fatal accident." He added, "I felt the need for safe public transportation that children could use without being placed in dangerous situations or getting hurt."

The buses bear the mandarin duck emblem along with the Korean phrase 'Sarang-euro' (meaning 'With Love'). The buses donated by Booyoung serve not only as safe means of transportation but also as a way to promote the Korean language. Currently, out of the 1,200 buses donated to Cambodia, 700 are in operation, and the remaining 500 are scheduled to be delivered by April 2024. In Laos, 300 of the 600 buses have already arrived, with the remaining 300 also expected to be delivered by April 2024.

Chairman Lee stated, "If the main modes of transportation in the two countries, motorcycles and tuk-tuks, are replaced by buses as public transportation, the national power will also greatly improve. Citizens, including students, will be able to use their time efficiently by reading books while riding air-conditioned buses."

This is not Booyoung Group’s first donation. To date, Booyoung Group has donated over 2,000 digital pianos and more than 30,000 educational blackboards to Laos, as well as approximately 7.8 million USD in funds for the construction of 300 elementary schools. Additionally, the group established a golf club to support Laos’s bid to host the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) and donated about 400,000 USD for the construction and development of a Taekwondo center. Furthermore, Booyoung has supported various cultural events in Laos, including donations of clothing and shoes equivalent to 83 containers.

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