Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo has been elected as the chair of Korea Mecenat Association, a nonprofit body that encourages corporate support of the arts.

He will replace Park Yong-hyun, former chief of Doosan Group and current chair of the group’s philanthropic body, Doosan Yonkang Foundation, who will go on to serve the mecenat organization as an honorary chairman. 

“Corporate patron programs of the arts are a cornerstone of the government’s vision for cultural enrichment and what the general public hopes for from corporations,” Park Sam-koo, 69, told the association’s plenary session held in Seoul on Wednesday, where he was elected.

“I will do my best to encourage more companies to engage in mecenat programs.”

He will serve in the position until February 2018.

Park was among the recipients of last year’s Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Awards, which have honored patrons of the arts around the world for over 20 years.

Kumho Asiana, the parent group of the nation’s second-largest carrier Asiana Airlines, has been fostering musical and artistic talent through Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, established in 1977.

The group is credited with discovering and nurturing young artists in the fields of classical music and the fine arts, running scholarship programs and loaning out rare musical instruments for free. Among the beneficiaries are pianist Son Yeol-eum, violinists Clara Jumi Kang and Kwon Hyuk-joo, who are now flying high in the global classical music scene.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)