The director of an antique map museum at Kyunghee University has been honored with a Mongolian government medal given to foreigners for contributing to the development of the country.

Kim Hye-jung, 66, director of Hyejung Museum and honorary literature professor at the university, received the Polaris Medal from the Mongolian government on Wednesday in recognition of her contribution to Seoul-Ulan Bator ties, the school said.

The medal was presented by former Mongolian President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbat at the Mongolian Embassy in Seoul.

Kim built a friendly relationship with Mongolia before the Korean government established diplomatic relations with the country in 1990. She founded an orphanage in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, where she has supported about 100 orphans with donations since 1986.

Through her 46 visits to Mongolia, she also was able to build a special friendship with President Ochirbat, who was impressed by her devoted service to Mongolian orphans. Kim later translated Ochirbat’s autobiography into Korean.

Kim held an exhibition of ancient maps from the two countries in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic relations last July, and she plans to establish a science museum for Mongolian teenagers. She also runs a welfare center for the mentally disabled on the southern resort island of Jeju.

As a third-generation Korean-Japanese, Kim has always questioned her identity and sought a link between her and her mother country.

She graduated from the Japanese literature department of Tokyo Women’s University. She began collecting antique maps and atlases produced in the West, which she later donated to Kyunghee University, becoming the director of the map museum in 2005. The museum is a rare collection of antique maps and atlases and also researches the history, geography and culture of Korea.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)