Mountaineer Um Hong-gil Granted Honorary Citizenship of Nepal

Published on 2020/01/19 | Source

Mountaineer Um Hong-gil poses with his honorary citizenship certificate from the Nepalese government in Kathmandu on Jan. 12. /Yonhap

Korean mountaineer Um Hong-gil has been made an honorary citizen of Nepal.

The Nepalese government on Sunday bestowed honorary citizenship on Um in recognition of his efforts to build schools in Nepal, and help the bereaved families of four Sherpas who died while climbing with him.

Um is the third foreigner to be granted honorary citizenship there, after Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand in 2003, and Colin Smith of the U.K. last year.