KT&G Scholarship Foundation announced on the 24th that it has selected ballerina Minji Son as a culture and arts scholarship student for its 2024 Global Artist Support Program and awarded her a scholarship.

The Global Artist Support Program was newly established last year to help students, who are receiving support as culture and arts scholarship recipients and have won awards in international competitions, continue to grow. This year, Minji Son was chosen for her achievements at the 2024 Youth America Grand Prix, an international ballet competition held last April, where she won 1st place in the Senior Pas de Deux category and 3rd place in the Women’s Solo category. Last year, Chae-eun Lee and Min-cheol Jeon (ballerino) were selected as the first recipients.

KT&G Scholarship Foundation began its Culture and Arts Scholarship Program in 2016 to foster promising artistic talents. It selects scholarship students in the fields of music, ballet, traditional arts, and fine arts, among others. To date, 278 students have benefited from the program, with more than 1.4 billion KRW in total funding. Notable examples of scholarship recipients include pianist Yunchan Lim, who became the youngest winner in history at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and scholar Jiyul Jeon, who was accepted into the Princess Grace Academy of the Monte Carlo Ballet in 2022 and is currently studying abroad.

A representative from KT&G Scholarship Foundation stated, “We hope that through the Global Artist Support Program, young artists will be able to fully showcase their talents on the global stage,” and added, “We will continue our efforts to discover and nurture talented individuals through various support programs, thereby contributing to the development of Korea’s arts and culture scene.”

KT&G Scholarship Foundation is a public interest corporation established in 2008 by KT&G to realize its management philosophy of being a company that grows together. It conducts diverse scholarship programs at home and abroad to support underprivileged students and foster future talent. Since the foundation’s inception, it has awarded scholarships to over 10,000 recipients through last year, amounting to a total of 43.5 billion KRW.

(Photo Description) KT&G Scholarship Foundation held the 2024 Global Artist scholarship award ceremony on the 23rd. In the photo, Minji Son (center), who was selected as a culture and arts scholarship recipient, poses for a commemorative photo with Hong-pil An, Secretary General of the KT&G Scholarship Foundation (second from the right), and Ho-yeon Jang, Head of KT&G’s Social Contribution Department (first from the left).