May 27, 2015
Korea Times, Washington D.C. Edition
“Inheriting his father’s aspiration for [Korean] Unification…”
Mr. Marcus Sangho Ryu, son of Dr. Jai Poong Ryu, Chair of One Korea Foundation in Maryland, donated $1,000,000 USD for ‘New Unification Song Campaign’
Famous composer and lyric writer join
33 top singers will sing together
The news became the topic of talk that the son of Dr. Jai Ryu (an emeritus professor at Loyola University) donated $1,000,000 USD for ‘New Unification Song Campaign’ organized by civic and faith-based organizations.
According to the organizing committee of the campaign, Marcus Ryu, the first son of Dr. Ryu, donated $1,000,000 USD to promote and distribute this new reunification song. He was recommended to do so by his father.
After graduation from Princeton University, Marcus Sangho Ryu studied at Oxford University with a Marshall Scholarship by British government. He worked at Mckinsey & Company as a consultant. He then served as Vice President of Strategy at Ariba, Inc. Currently, he is CEO of Guidewire, a publically traded corporation based in the Silicon Valley.
Professor Ryu said, “Because I left North Korea at the age of four, even my son has great interest in North Korea and the reunification issue. He also reads a lot of books related to that issue. I was on the way to Korea at the Los Angeles airport, and my son happened to be on the same flight with me. So I suggested him to make contribution and he replied willingly.”
Professor Ryu graduated from Kyunggi High School and majored in law at Seoul National University. He taught social studies at Loyola University for 42 years and retired. He has devoted his life to Korean Reunification as a chairman of One Korea Foundation.
Professor Ryu said, “Our forefathers lost national sovereignty and let Korea be divided because they didn’t have power. However, now South Korea has become a strong nation. So South Korea should bring North Korea to the path for reunification. I resonated with the cause to inspire young people who have little interest in reunification issue through music. That is why I asked my son to contribute.”
The New Unification Song Campaign was initiated with the idea to create a new reunification song by private sectors 68 years after ‘Our cherished Hope’ song was released in 1947. Famous music composer, Mr. Hyung Seok Kim and Ms. Eana Kim, a lyric writer, will make the song K-Pop style. A music director, Ms. Kolleen Park and Mr. Hyung Seok Kim will direct the production. 33 Top K-Pop singers will sing this song with sincere desire for reunification pro bono.
The song will be released in August and a concert will be held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on September 19th. The campaign will be held in Washington DC as well as major capital cities in the world in August.
