Chairman Lee Joong-geun of Booyoung Earns Ph.D. in Law from Korea University at Age 83

Lee Joong-geun, chairman of Booyoung Group, obtained a doctorate in law at the age of 83.

According to Booyoung Group on the 23rd, Chairman Lee received his doctorate in law at the ‘117th Korea University Degree Conferment Ceremony’ held at Korea University Inchon Memorial Hall on the same day.

Chairman Lee Joong-geun of Booyoung Group received a Doctor of Laws degree at the 117th Korea University Commencement Ceremony held at Inchon Memorial Hall, Korea University on the 23rd. Photo by Booyoung Group

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Chairman Lee was born in 1941 in Suncheon, Jeonnam. He earned a master's degree in public administration from Korea University Graduate School of Policy in 2000, followed by a doctoral degree from the same university in 2004. In 2022, at the age of 81, he entered the doctoral program in law at Korea University Graduate School. His doctoral dissertation topic was “A Constitutional Study on the Unconstitutionality and Improvement Measures of Laws Related to Public Rental Housing.”

Chairman Lee stated, “There is no end to learning (學無止境). Scholarship is not separate from corporate management and can be practically well utilized. There is also the joy of studying something new.”

Since its establishment in 1983, Booyoung Group has supplied about 300,000 households nationwide (including 230,000 rental apartments). Recently, the group proposed the need for private sector participation in permanent rental housing to stabilize national housing. Chairman Lee said, “Under the current sale-conditional rental housing system, there are often cases where tenants excessively demand price reductions ahead of the sale conversion,” adding, “In the future, the system should be restructured with private participation into 30% ‘permanent rental housing for residence only’ and 70% ‘owner-occupied housing.’”

Chairman Lee was also recognized for enhancing the university’s honor through various public service activities and received a commendation award. He has established dormitories at more than 100 elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide. In June last year, he donated a total of 265 billion KRW, giving up to 100 million KRW each to hometown residents, relatives, elementary, middle, and high school alumni, military comrades, and veterans. This year, he proposed a solution to low birth rates by providing an internal childbirth incentive of “100 million KRW per newborn.”

In addition, he has actively engaged in social contribution activities such as rent-free daycare centers, support for low-income groups, improvement of elderly welfare, addressing regional extinction issues, and disaster relief efforts. The total amount of social contributions reaches 1.1 trillion KRW.

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