In this file photo, singer Insooni speaks during a press conference for a music festival held at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul on June 11, 2025. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean singer Insooni has been selected as the 2025 Woman of Influence Award honoree for her humanitarian activities supporting young people of mixed race and multicultural backgrounds, Pearl S. Buck International said Friday.
The 68-year-old has become the first Korean to receive the honor from the U.S.-based nongovernmental organization since late first lady Lee Hee-ho in 2000.
Insooni founded and operates Haemil School, a tuition-free residential alternative school in Hongcheon, about 350 kilometers east of Seoul, for multiethnic and biracial students.
Born to a South Korean mother and an African American father after the Korean War, she received assistance from the organization’s child sponsorship program while being raised by her mother. She now serves as a board member for Pearl S. Buck Foundation Korea, an affiliate of the organization.
“In addition to her longstanding first-hand connection to the work and mission of Pearl S. Buck International, Insooni also embodies the humanitarian, cross-cultural, and advocacy legacy of Pearl S. Buck,” Pearl S. Buck International said in its website.
“She overcame deep societal racial discrimination to become a success in the music industry and a household name in her home country,” it added.
She will receive the award in person during a ceremony scheduled for Aug. 21 in Pennsylvania, according to the organization.
(Yonhap)
