Korean singer Insooni has been selected as the 2025 Woman of Influence Award honoree for her humanitarian activities supporting young people of multiracial 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 the 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 multiracial students.

Born to a Korean mother and a Black father after the 1950-53 Korean War, she received assistance from the organization's child sponsorship program while being raised by her mother. She now serves on the board of Pearl S. Buck Foundation Korea, an affiliate of the organization.

“In addition to her longstanding firsthand 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 on 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 Thursday in Pennsylvania, according to the organization.

Yonhap