Prime Minister Hun Sen said he will donate proceeds from his 2021 book Unbreakable Love and the $1 million from the 2022 Sunhak Peace Prize Founder’s Award to build homes for veterans.
Hun Sen made the remark at a Council of Ministers session on February 4.
Unbreakable Love recounts the premier’s love story with his wife Bun Rany. It is available in Khmer, English and Chinese.
The South Korean-based Sunhak Peace Prize Foundation recently announced that Hun Sen would received an award for 2022, for his contributions to peace and economic development in Cambodia and to peace initiatives in the region.
The prime minister will depart for South Korea on February 10 to attend the World Summit on Peace for the Korean Peninsula, organised by the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and scheduled for February 12-13.
He will receive the Sunhak Peace Prize Founder’s Award on February 12 in Seoul.
King Norodom Sihamoni lauded Hun Sen for the award, saying the accolade is a great honour for the nation and the people of Cambodia as a whole.
According to the King, the premier deserves the award for making considerable physical, mental and intellectual efforts, along with all manner of sacrifices, in the fundamental duties for the nation, the motherland and the people of Cambodia.
“His leadership ended the bloodshed in Cambodia and brought the country full peace, national and territorial unity, independence and sovereignty, supports for multi-party democracy, rule of law, and development in all sectors.
“[He] has elevated the country’s prestige on the international stage,” the King wrote in a letter.
Yong Pov, a professor of political science at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said what Hun Sen had committed to do was a noble gesture. The money was earned through his knowledge and by his peace building – and using the funds to build homes for veterans was a fantastic idea.
“We know that Hun Sen does not lack money, so using these extra earnings in such a charitable way makes perfect sense,” he said.
Veterans had spent their lives defending the nation, and some had given up their health in doing so. They were deserving recipients of the prime minister’s largesse, he added.
