"Grateful to the School That Helped Raise My Son"... 89-Year-Old Mother Donates Money Saved from Selling Wild Greens

Lee Imsoon Donates 10 Million Won to Chonnam National University's School of Law
"I Will Keep My Promise to Donate Every Birthday for as Long as I Am Alive"

An octogenarian mother who raised seven children by selling wild greens at market stalls throughout her life has quietly donated to the university that helped her youngest son become an outstanding professional for the third year in a row, warming hearts.

Lee Imsun, 89, recently donated 10 million won to the development fund for Chonnam National University's Law School on her birthday. Photo provided by Chonnam National University.

Chonnam National University said on October 15 that Lee Imsoon, 89, who lives in Chipyeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, recently donated 10 million won to the development fund of its School of Law to mark her birthday. This is the third consecutive year she has made a donation, beginning in 2024.

After her husband died 37 years ago, Lee took on farming and poultry work alone. She raised seven children through sheer hard work, selling spinach and wild greens at places including Yangdong Market and Sangmu Friday Market. She stopped selling goods two years ago due to her age, but saved the pocket money her children gave her, a little at a time, to make the donation. Since 2025, she has also given scholarships to Geungnak Elementary School, which all seven of her children attended.

Having lived with the regret of never having had the chance to attend school, Lee has always felt grateful for universities as places of learning.

Her youngest son is attorney Lee Geum-gyu, who graduated from Chonnam National University's Department of Law, passed the bar exam in 2001, and later worked as a prosecutor. He is currently serving as an assistant special counsel on the team investigating allegations of obstruction of the probe into a Marine's death in the line of duty. Lee decided to donate to show her gratitude to the university that helped her son grow into an upright person.

Lee, who will turn 90 next year, said, "I spent my whole life working like an ox and regret never learning to read and write. I wanted to repay, even in a small way, the kindness of the world that taught my son so well. It may not be a large sum, but I want to keep my promise to donate every birthday for as long as I am alive."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.