On Christmas Eve at the Kumho Art Hall in central Seoul, an old man approached a little boy sitting at the back row of the front bloc during the intermission of the Kumho Soloists’ recital.

“Why don’t you come and sit with us?” he said, showing the front row of the back bloc, which was an R-seat, the priciest. He asked a staff member to bring two extra cushions for the boy to boost him in his seat for a better view. He and his friends watched the boy even after the concert resumed, and smiled when the boy applauded at the end.

The old man was none other than Kumho Asiana Group chairman Park Sam-koo, who also heads the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation. He attended the concert to encourage the soloists, which consisted of Kumho scholarship alumni. He waved at the musicians at the curtain call and exited the concert hall with a big smile.

“Park has a genuine heart for classical music and the musicians. He thinks of them as his own family. No matter how important other businesses are, he always prioritizes the soloists’ performances,” a Kumho Foundation spokeswoman said.

“Thursday’s gesture to the young boy could also be seen as an act of support for the young generation to indulge in music in a better environment,” she added.

In fact, the Kumho Foundation has been noted for nurturing young talents through numerous competitions, training programs and others. The foundation has also been lending high-end musical instruments to young talents who cannot afford the luxury. Some of the most promising musicians of our time, including pianists Cho Seong-jin, Son Yeol-eum and Kim Sun-wook as well as violinists Jang Yu-jin and and Lee Soo-bin, benefited from the foundation’s support programs during their childhood.

The love for classical music runs deep in the Kumho founding Park family. Park’s predecessor and elder brother, the late Park Seong-yawng was a classical music enthusiast, having established the Kumho Foundation in 1977. The foundation built the Kumho Art Hall, dedicated to chamber music.

Pianist Son once told The Korea Herald that the late Park was “one of the first persons to congratulate me, and among the very first I would think of when playing the music.”

And Park has inherited that. He was recently appointed as the head of the Korea Mecenat Association, a nonprofit organization of businessmen to encourage cultural activities. “During the economic hardships where many Kumho affiliates suffered cash flow problems, Park did not give up on cultural patronage, because he truly believed in the power of art,” an industry insider commented.

By Bae Ji-sook  (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)