JW Lee Jong-ho Foundation, JW Pharmaceutical’s public trust, announced on Tuesday that it has selected Dr. Kang Dong-won, the representative and director of the Africa Future Foundation in Zimbabwe, and its medical director, Dr. Jeon Jin-kyung, as the recipients of the 2025 JW Sungcheon Award.
The JW Sungcheon Award was established in 2012 by the late Lee Jong-ho, honorary chairman of JW Pharmaceutical, to carry on the life-respecting spirit of Lee Ki-seok (Sungcheon in penname), the founder of JW Pharmaceutical. It is awarded annually to medical professionals who have dedicated themselves quietly to their work in the field of medicine.
Drs. Kang and Jeon graduated from Yonsei University College of Medicine and married in 1997. Kang served as a professor of pharmacology at Catholic University College of Medicine, and Jeon worked as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital.
The couple first arrived in Zimbabwe in 2012 as members of the Africa Future Foundation, an NGO. Faced with the harsh medical reality, they established an NGO registered with the Zimbabwean government under the same name, driven by their sense of mission as doctors, and have been engaged in dedicated activities for over 10 years. Despite suffering from a rare autoimmune disease, Director Kang has not let his passion waver.
As a married couple and medical colleagues, the two have supported each other, going beyond mere medical treatment to work toward building a sustainable healthcare infrastructure. In 2013, they were appointed as unpaid full-time professors at the Clinical Pharmacology Department and the Pediatrics Department of Zimbabwe’s National University of Science and Technology Faculty of Medicine. Over the past 13 years, they have educated more than 4,000 people and contributed to the training of key personnel in local healthcare.
Additionally, they collaborate with medical institutions in Korea and the Americas to provide training opportunities for local medical professionals and support them in accessing the latest medical knowledge and technology. These efforts play a significant role in strengthening the foundation for the independence of the local medical system, going beyond short-term medical treatment.
Medical Director Jeon worked as a pediatrician at the Sally Mugabe Children's Hospital, affiliated with the National University of Science and Technology's Faculty of Medicine, while also treating underprivileged pediatric patients at the Budiriro Health Center, located near the capital city of Harare.
The Sally Mugabe Children’s Hospital is a public medical institution that provides free medical care to children under the age of five and is a place where medically vulnerable groups are concentrated. The hospital admits about 3,000 to 10,000 children annually. When the former director began his medical work there, the hospital faced severe challenges, including a high mortality rate of 10 percent among admitted children due to infectious diseases, such as pediatric AIDS caused by vertical transmission, malaria, typhoid fever, and bacterial gastroenteritis.
Jeon has supported patient treatment by covering diagnostic and treatment costs, including X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, and blood tests, out of her own pocket, laying a foundation for providing actual access to medical care for extremely poor patients.
“Instead of merely providing medical services, the couple have focused on helping the local healthcare system become self-sufficient and on training future medical professionals, said Lee Seong-nak, chairman of JW Sungcheon Award and honorary president of Gachon University. “Their dedication to reaching out to children and local residents on the brink of survival is more than just providing medical treatment. It is an effort to restore access to healthcare and a symbol of the spirit of respect for life that JW Sungcheon Award pursues.”
The JW Sungcheon Award ceremony is scheduled to take place on Sept. 24 at the JW Pharmaceutical headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.