The establishment of the public interest foundation promised by former DaouKiwoom Group Chairman Kim Ik-rae has been realized after two years.

The Ye-Gang Hope Growth Foundation announced on the 20th that it has officially launched after receiving establishment approval from the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The name 'Ye-Gang (霓岡)', which is also Kim's pen name, carries the meaning of 'a hill to lean on and provide hope, like a double rainbow in the sky after rain.'

Yekang Hope Growth Foundation logo.

The foundation is expected to operate with a budget of around 60 billion won. The main projects are aimed at supporting the resolution of health and educational gaps for vulnerable groups, promoting mental health and emotional stability for self-reliance among vulnerable groups, and providing emergency support in times of disaster and public health crises.

Specifically, the foundation plans to improve the environment for health-vulnerable populations and support multicultural youth and family caregivers. It will also pursue public competition projects, learning support, and excursion programs, and will provide focused artificial intelligence training for social welfare workers.

Oh Ho-soo, former chairman of the Korea Securities Association, will serve as the inaugural chair of the Ye-Gang Hope Growth Foundation. Park Sang-jo, former director of Chungnam Institute of Convergence, has been appointed as the executive director. ▲ Gong Gye-soon, current professor in the Department of Social Welfare at Hoseo University, ▲ Yoon Jong-yeon, current president of Main Street Investment, and ▲ Park Tae-cheol, former principal of Ansan Gangseo High School, have been named as directors, while ▲ Kim Young-ki, current attorney at Yoon & Yang LLC, will serve as auditor.

The Ye-Gang Hope Growth Foundation said, "We aim to provide a multifaceted support platform for our society to grow healthily and for everyone to have hope," and noted, "Furthermore, we will support these individuals to become self-reliant and grow into healthy members of our society."

Former Chairman Kim stepped down from his positions as chairman and board chair in May 2023 as allegations emerged regarding the use of undisclosed important information due to a massive stock sale just before the crash of Daou Data. He pledged to donate 60.5 billion won from the sale of Daou Data shares to society.