Businessman ordered to fulfill donation pledge despite unintended use

BUSAN, May 7 (Yonhap) -- A local court ordered a donor Thursday to fulfill his
pledge to a university regardless of whether the recipient uses the money as it
was originally intended.
Song Geum-jo, the 85-year-old chief of kitchen utensil manufacturer Taeyangsa,
promised in 2003 to give 30.5 billion won (US$24 million) to Pusan National
University on condition that the endowment be spent on building another campus on
the outskirts of this port city.
The businessman has already contributed 19.5 billion won but refused to pay the
remaining 11 billion, saying the school did not use the money to buy real estate
for the new campus but instead used it to expand the main campus and finance
research projects.
"The plaintiff claims that Pusan National University did not comply with his
requests, and therefore does not have to pay the remaining amount," the district
court said in a ruling. "But a donation is not a binding contract that the
beneficiary must abide by."
Baek Tae-kyun, the spokesman for the court, said Thursday's decision means a
benefactor cannot break a donation promise "just because the recipient's use of
the endowment is inconsistent with his wishes."
Song says he will appeal the ruling.
"Who would donate if a charity does not use the money for the donor's stated
purposes? I will take all available legal action to get to the truth and set up a
legitimate process for donations," he said.
brk@yna.co.kr
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