South Korea president donates most of his fortune

Lee Myung-bak, the heavily criticized president of South Korea, has gone to fulfilling one of the most outrageous campaign promises ever made : that he would donate all his personal wealth to charity.

And that’s exactly what he did on Monday, by donating approximately $26.2 million worth of commercial property from his own coffers for a new foundation for needy students. Granted, that wasn’t exactly his whole wealth, but at 80%, no one would probably complain about that.

And complaining may be just what Lee Myung-bak had been enduring for quite some time. The South Korean president has been known for being the target of daily jeers and insults, both from opposition, critics and even the South Korean masses. A study shows that he has already been disrespected in various ways an approximate 1,700 number of times this year alone so far, and his approval ratings average at around 20%.

“Today is a wonderful and joyous day,” Myung-bak said in a statement. “Looking back, I realize everyone who has helped me become who I am now were people who were poor. I believed one way to return the favors they afforded me was to use my wealth for a good cause.”