LG chairman offers 500m won to Yang

Koo Bon-moo

LG Group said Thursday that its chairman Koo Bon-moo will deliver 500 million won ($444,225) to gymnastics gold medalist Yang Hak-seon as soon as he comes back from London.

The group said that the chairman decided to offer the funding to Yang, a 20-year-old gymnast who won the gold medal in men’s vault on Monday, so he could fully concentrate on sports.

“The funding was given to encourage the gymnast as he still persevered to win the gold with his strong will and training despite his family’s difficult economic conditions,” said LG officials.

“Yang has become an inspiration for securing the top place in gymnastics and bringing home the first gold medal ever in that sports category for South Korea. His love for his parents also contributed among the reasons for offering the support fund.”

Yang Hak-seon

Yang scored 16.533 points on average after two attempts, beating Russia’s Denis Ablyazin who came in second with his average of 16.399 points.

In an interview held after the performance, he said he wanted to buy a house for his parents who live in a temporary house made of vinyl.

Donations, which included Korean instant noodles and an apartment, started flooding in after the release of the interview.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldm.com)