Actor Lee Young-ae was confirmed on the 15th (local time) to have sponsored the installation of a bust of poet Cho Ji-hoon in the "Poet's Garden," created at the Korean Cultural Center in Vienna, Austria. Lee has steadily donated to commemorative projects related to independence activists and former President Rhee Syng-man.
The Poet's Garden is a space created in 2022 inside the Korean Cultural Center in Vienna by the Korean diaspora community in Austria. The cultural center was established through voluntary fundraising by local Koreans and government support. At the time, busts of poets Kim Sowol, Han Yong-un, Yun Dong-ju, and Jeong Ji-yong were installed first. The aim was to promote Korean literature abroad and to help the next generation of Koreans take pride in Korean culture.
The bust of poet Cho Ji-hoon, sponsored by Lee Young-ae, was additionally installed in May along with a bust of poet Lee Yuk-sa. Youngsan Group, led by Park Jong-bum, president of the World OKTA (OKTA; World Federation of Overseas Korean Traders Associations), who served as president of the Korean Association in Austria and spearheaded the creation of the cultural center, also joined the sponsorship. Thanks to their support, a new bust was added to the Poet's Garden four years after it was first created in 2022. The amount of support was not disclosed.
An official at the center said, "The bust of poet Cho Ji-hoon was produced in 2022, but it could not be installed at the time due to external circumstances such as COVID-19," and added, "This time, it was additionally installed along with the bust of poet Lee Yuk-sa." In fact, the monument for the bust of poet Cho Ji-hoon bears the date "May 2022."
Cho Ji-hoon (1920–1968), whose real name was Cho Dong-tak, is a leading poet of the Cheongnok school along with Park Mok-wol and Park Du-jin. Born in Yeongyang, North Gyeongsang Province, Cho shaped traditional sentiment and the seonbi spirit into a distinctly Korean beauty. His representative works include "Seungmu" and "Bonghwangsu," and after liberation he served as a professor at Korea University, dedicating himself to training younger scholars.
Lee Young-ae has made multiple donations to historical and veterans-related commemorative projects. Representative examples include donations to organizations related to independence activists, such as the Hong Beom-do General Memorial Association, the Yun Bong-gil Patriot Memorial Association, the Lee Bong-chang Patriot Memorial Association, and the Kim Seong-suk Memorial Association. She also donated to the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation, which is promoting the construction of a memorial hall for former President Rhee Syng-man.
Lee Young-ae also has ties to Austria. Her daughter Jeong Seung-bin is known to be a member of the Korea Kinderchor at the Vienna Boys Choir Music Academy. Jeong participated in Ukraine peace concerts held across Europe in 2024, and Lee was also said to have accompanied the European schedule to support her daughter's activities.