Priest wins Magsaysay award

Priest wins Magsaysay award

MANILA (AFP): South Korean Catholic priest John Oh Woong-jin, founder of a home for Korea's poor, disabled and elderly was awarded this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service, the award foundation announced yesterday.

Oh was cited for "arousing in modern Korea a compassion for the poor by personifying the scriptural injunction to 'love thy neighbor'," the foundation said.

Oh, a 50-year-old secular priest, founded and built Kkottongne in 1983, a refuge for 3,000 orphans, abandoned children, the disabled and elderly, using donations from 700,000 individuals instead of big donors so that many could "experience the happiness of helping others."

His 200-hectare complex in site is located at Ch'ungch'ongbuk- do town, two hours' drive from Seoul.

Oh derived inspiration for his work from the experience of a 70-year-old man who begged food for others too weak to beg and rescued the homeless from the cold, the citation said.

The priest will receive a US$50,000 cash prize and a medal, along with four other awardees in other categories in ceremonies on Aug. 31.