The Korea Student Aid Foundation (Chairman of the Board Kwak Byung-seon) and KT&G (CEO Min Young-jin) are recruiting applicants for the second class of “Sangsang, Pride of Korea” until December 6, with the aim of nurturing talents with an accurate understanding of Korean history and a sense of pride in it.

This visit, to find traces of our history in Japan, is to be launched under the sponsorship of the Northeast Asian History Foundation affiliated with the Ministry of Education, and all required expenses will be covered by the KT&G Sangsang Fund. The fund is KT&G’s unique social contribution fund set up with voluntary donations by KT&G officers and employees and a company support fund, with its operational budget scale for this year reaching approximately ₩3.5 billion.

Applications can be made by all university students, joining as one team of four students, on the KT&G Sangsang Univ. homepage (www.sangsanguniv.com) with the submission of written applications and visit plans. 100 students in 25 teams will be finally selected based on the combined results of document screening and online support scores.

These students are scheduled to visit the traces of our history in the Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara regions of Japan during January next year. In addition, volunteer work, and exchanges with local university students are also scheduled. After the visits, they will propagate the value and excellence of our history that is being forgotten by posting videos, webtoons, posters, and the like.

A KT&G official said, “‘Sangsang, Pride of Korea’ received a very favorable response after the activities of the first class, winning third place in the field of ‘Best Overseas Activity’ (overseas visit) chosen by university students,” adding that “we hope many undergraduates will participate in this visit, which can arouse interest in our history and underscore the importance of the preservation of our historical heritage.”