As part of POSTECH’s 25th anniversary ceremony, there was an unveiling performance for the statue of Tae-Joon Park, the founder of POSTECH, on Nobel Hill. Though it rained all day long, the event was a success.

Well-known figures, such as Joon-yang Jeong, the CEO of POSCO, Sang-deuk Lee, a member of National Assembly, and Seung-ho Park, the Mayor of Pohang, attended and commemorated the event.

Some of the local and national press came to cover the ceremony as well.

However, Tae-Joon Park himself did not show up. It was rumored that he expressed his belief that it is not appropriate for the model of the statue to show up in front of the statue.

Though Tae-Joon Park himself was not present, his family members came to the ceremony. Though the committee prepared  chairs for them, they refused to sit and watched the ceremony while standing in rain.

The statue was chiseled by Wu Wei Shan, a Chinese sculptor who is lauded as one of the greatest sculptors of the age.

It is of course a very honorable thing to construct a statue of a founder of an institute. But there were some voices that setting a statue, though it is of a founder of an institute, is open to any political controversies such as the personal idolization issue.

The committee said that half of the cost was covered from the school budget and the other half from donation.  The total amount of the donation exceeded the production fee. The rest of the exceeding contribution will be put to good use.