Former U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens donated 10 million won to the Korea Cycling Federation Wednesday, the federation said.

The donation is part of 30 million won ($27,000) she received in prize money from the Sejong Culture Awards, which recognizes achievements to the promotion of Korean culture.

Stephens was the first female U.S. ambassador to Korea, and served in Korea from 2008 to 2011. She is also among a handful of American officials who can speak fluent Korean and have much knowledge of the Korean culture. 

She was one of the recipients of the 32nd Korea Sejong Culture Awards given by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Monday.

Stephens is known as an avid cycling advocate. In 2011, she pedaled 700 kilometers from Seoul to Jindo, South Jeolla Province, to celebrate South Korea’s successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. It took her about 90 days to complete the course.

In June, last year, the former envoy to Korea visited the country for the first time as a foreigner and completed a 633-km bicycle path from Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, to the southeastern port city of Busan.

Koo Ja-yeol, president of the federation and chairman of LS Group, who is also a cycling fan, has taken a bicycle tour with her many times, including the Seoul-Jindo tour.

When Stephens finished her term in Korea, she gave her bicycle to the federation.

The federation is going to spend her donation buying underprivileged youngsters bicycles.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)