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| IU in a scene from Netflix anthology film 'Persona.' Courtesy of Netflix |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Celebrities have opened up their wallets and purses for victims of the disastrous mountain fire in Gangwon Province cities and counties on April 4. As of Saturday, donations totaled 381 million won ($330,000).
Tens of public figures, from actors and athletes to comedians and musicians, have donated from millions to hundreds of millions of won. Their donations will support victims in need in the counties of Goseong, Inje and Sokcho and the cities of Gangneung ― which hosted PyeongChang Winter Olympics events in February 2018 ― and Donghae.
The largest donor was singer IU with 100 million won. She offered the money on Friday to ChildFund Korea, an international welfare service organization's Korean arm that has been urging people online to donate.
K-pop idol and TV personality Kim Hee-chul from seven-member boy band Super Junior donated 30 million won to the Community Chest of Korea. The musician, who is now busier on TV variety shows than on stage, officially promotes Hoengseong County in the province where he grew up.
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| Kim Hee-chul answers to a journalist in a press conference at a hotel in Samseong-dong, Seoul, for Super Junior's release of 8th full-length album 'PLAY,' Nov. 6, 2017. Korea Times file |
Boy-band member Jinwoo from WINNER and Kang Min-hyuk from rock band CNBLUE each donated 10 million won to the Korean charity group Hope Bridge. The group also received 20 million from boy band ZE:A member and actor Im Si-wan and girl group Sistar's rapper Bora, who debuted as an actress in the movie "Sunkist Family" that opened in March.
Junho from boy group 2PM raised the charity barometer by 30 million won.
Lee Seung-yuop, former national baseball hitter and chairman of his eponymous scholarship foundation, gave 10 million won.
Actors, including 2016 action flick "Master" lead Kim Woo-bin, Kim Seo-hyung from recent TV drama mega-hit "Sky Castle" on JTBC, Kim So-hyun from the coming Netflix original "Love Alarm," Song Joong-ki from the 2016 TV blockbuster war romance "Descendants of the Sun" on KBS, and recently wrapped-up JTBC TV drama "Dazzling" male lead Nam Joo-hyuk, gave a total of 90 million won.
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| Kim Seo-hyung in a scene from 'Sky Castle' on JTBC. Photo from JTBC |
Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday declared a state of national disaster over the blaze in the border town of Goseong and neighboring cities. The following day he designated the areas a special disaster zone, funneling state money in to help victims and support recovery.
The fire started in the mountainous county of Goseong on Thursday night and spread to nearby cities within hours. One man died and 11 were injured in the blaze.
Nearly 4,000 residents were evacuated to makeshift shelters. About 3,700 people later returned home, the government said.
