Korean Red Cross

The Republic of Korea National Red Cross(KNRC, President Park Kyung-seo) successfully held the '2019 Red Cross Gala'(Gala) for 'Building Safer Korea' on 1 November at the Grand Hyatt Seoul Grand Ballroom. KNRC raised cash contribution of 1.3 billion won through Gala.

The 5th Gala has been one of the leading fund-raising event in East Asia, sharing the KNRC's vision and plans for 'Building Safer Korea' with donors and collecting donors.

KNRC is focusing on three topics(Life Safety, Disaster Safety, Social Integration Safety) to fulfill 'Building Safer Korea'.

The Gala was attended by 450 people, including diplomatic ambassadors from 12 countries, KNRC honorary ambassadors Na Seung-yeon, So yoo-jin, Ahn Jae-wook. Also, RCSV(Red Cross Creating Shared Value, The honored group of high-amount donors from social institutes, corporate organizations) and RCHC(Red Cross Honors Club, The honored club of High-Net-Worth individuals) members attended.

In the 1st part of Gala, the video message from Francesco Rocca, who is the president of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies(IFRC), and from Lim Hyung-joo, who is the KNRC honorary ambassador were played. After then, there were the series of programs such as explanations about the 2018 and 2019 Gala, special initiation ceremony for new RCSV & RCHC members, presentation for the plan of 'Building Safer Korea'. Also, the pop artist Lee Se-jun had congratulatory performance. In the 2nd part, the launching ceremony of '2020 Relay Hope Campaign' and the congratulatory performance of tenor Ryu Jung-pil were put on.

In this year, there was a special initiation ceremony for the new RCHC members. The honor was granted to Ms. Shin Sook-kyung, 139th member, chairman of the 21st Century Women's Development Committee and Ms. Oh Yeon-seo, 140th member, actress and Ms. Seo Bong-sook, 142nd member.

Ms. Shin who has been engaged in standing committee of KNRC Gwangju & JeollaNamdo chapter from 2018 has been concerned about socially isolated vulnerabilities. Ms. Shin mentioned "Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to KNRC that provide the opportunity to deliver hope for my neighbors."

The well-known actress Ms. Oh has actively participated in KNRC cash contribution, support for the victims of Sewol Ferry's sinking, voluntary activities from 2013. Her sincere contributions are come from high interest in the socially isolated neighbors. Ms. Oh mentioned "I have been naturally approached to the KNRC humanitarian movement through my mother, who is currently serving as a KNRC volunteer."

Ms. Seo is wife of RCHC 59th member, Mr. Kwon Oh-rok. Through Ms. Seo's newly signing, both of them are now registered together as RCHC family membership through Mr. Kwon started his career as an administrative assistant of Seoul city hall since 1962, and retired in June 1996 as the head of Eunpyeonggu district office. He is also known as 'Faceless Donor' and became famous as 'Billion donor who uses 2G phone, and takes public transportation.' Mr. Kwon and Ms. Seo mentioned, "It's an honor to be listed as a family membership of the RCHC. Through KNRC, we want to give hope to needy neighbors."

The RCHC, Red Cross Honors Club is a honored club of High-Net-Worth (above 100 millions) individuals of KNRC. It was launched on 30 Sep, 2016 with the celebration of KNRC 111th anniversary, and is active with the aim of making efforts to solve social problems based on the 'Noblesse Oblige' spirit. Currently, 140 members of the RCHC across the nation are implementing humanitarian activities.

Following the RCHC initiation ceremony, the RCSV initiation ceremony was also held. The RCSV, Red Cross Creating Shared Value, was launched in May 2019 to provide corporate and business entities with donations and social contribution activities that can enhance social responsibility. Currently 17 companies are signed across the nation. In this year Gala, Korea Zinic(10 billion club), KB Kookmin Bank(5 billion club), Lotte(3 billion club) will be awarded as representative.

Also, the launching ceremony of '2020 Relay Hope Campaign' was held. This campaign is a donation relay activity that recruits 2020 donors who donate more than 1 million won to establish a desirable donation culture and disseminate the humanitarian value for caring socially isolated neighbors. The gala marked the start of the campaign with representatives from 15 regional relays.

"Through Gala, we hope that the social leaders would pay attention to social issues and participate in the humanitarian movement, which can help spread the culture of donation to the public." said the president of KNRC, Mr. Park Kyung-Seo said,

The Red Cross Gala, the 5th anniversary in this year, was planned to commemorate the 110th anniversary of KNRC in 2015, raising about 760 million won in 2015, 1.32 billion won in 2016, 2.28 billion won in 2017, and 2.62 billion won in 2018