Sewon's father had a stroke while he was attending his son's graduation at Oxford (he was hospitalized in Radcliffe Infirmary), and passed away in 1999, a year after he was transferred to Korea and completed the compilation of the Hanol Principle. Sewon had to return to Korea immediately.1)
His father was the founder of Hanol-gyo2) (the religious re-establishment of the 5000 year old Korean national founding philosophy based on 'spiritual enlightenment'),3) a politician (the Presidential Candidate of the Unified Korea Party who ran for the Presidency of South Korea twice), and an entrepreneur (the Chairman of the Hanon Group).4)
After the founder died, the Hanon group and the Hanol-gyo foundation suffered critically from the Korean IMF financial crisis.5)
As a legal descendant, Sewon inevitably took over his father’s entire responsibility and restructured the foundation: he renounced all of his inheritance and donated most of his remaining personal assets for the recovery.5) As a deputy Chairman of the Hanon Group, he restructured most of its subsidiary companies and finalized his father's major business initiatives including an agreement to develop one of the largest crude oil mines in Iraq (a consortium with Samsung, SK, Korean National Oil Development Corporation, where HI&T was the Managing Partner & Directing Initiator).6) He also acquired an agreement to develop internet-telecommunication systems for the Iraqi government.7)
His business and diplomatic contributions were recognized by both the Korean and Iraqi governments: on the request of the Iraqi National Assembly and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and after the approval of Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Minister’s approval), he was appointed to the Honorary Consul in 2000.8) He was very dedicated to humanitarian activities for children suffering from the war in Iraq; he supplied them with medicine9) and his brother, Se-Yong Shin established UHIC (United Help for International Children), an organization which is very active in helping suffering children all over the world.10)
In 2001, he was selected as one of '21 Young Power Leaders of Korea of the 21st century' by the Seoul Economy-Financial Daily.11)
1)
• [Focused on the reestablishment of Korean traditional religion] The 50th Anniversary of Hanolgyo, Spreading the Hanol spirit based on humanitarian aims 『Power Korea』February 2015 issue, P. 71~77
2)
• Shin Jeong Yil, the founder of Hanol-gyo (Hanol-gyo official website)
• Shin Jeong Yil 「Encyclopedia of Korean Culture」
• Shin Jeong Yil 「Doosan Encyclopedia」
• Shin Jeong Yil (Naver People Search)
• Shin Jeong Yil (JoongAng Ilbo People Search)
• Shin Jeong Yil (Chosun Ilbo People Search)
3)
• Hanol-gyo 「Encyclopedia Britannica online Korea」
• Hanol-gyo 「Encyclopedia of Korean Culture」
• Hanol-gyo 「Doosan Encyclopedia」
4)
• Shin Jeong Yil 「Encyclopedia of Korean Culture」
• Shin Jeong Yil 「Doosan Encyclopedia」
5)
6)
• Se Won Shin, CEO of HI&T : An Honorary Consul of Iraq 「Maeil Business Economy」October 11,2002
7)
8)
• Se Won Shin, CEO of HI&T : An Honorary Consul of Iraq 「Maeil Business Economy」 October 11, 2002.
• Appointment of Honorary Consul of Iraq 「Hankook Ilbo」 December 14, 2000.
9)
10)
• UHIC (United Help for International Children) official website
• Shin Seyong, Chairman of United Help for International Children
11)