American football star Hines Ward on Saturday met some 90 mixed-race children in Seoul to encourage them and pledge support for scholarships.

Going to an event hosted by Pearl S. Buck International Korea, he said he feels he is Korean and proud of his heritage, adding he hopes his Seoul visit will help ease social challenges and prejudice against biracial children.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post said his visit will not only help him find his roots but also raise social awareness of mixed-blood people in South Korea.

The daily also noted intense media coverage of discrimination against biracial children in the country, and Seoul's plan to rewrite school textbooks using multiculturalism.

The foundation says that among 35,000 biracials in South Korea, 5,000 are half American and the rest are half Asian.