Singer and actor Kim Hyun Joong is known for being a kind-hearted and generous person. So it was no surprise when he donated $100,000 last week to help the victim's of the Ya'an earthquake in China's Sichuan province. The magnitude 7.0 quake that hit Lushan on April 22, left almost 200 people dead and resulted in at least 13,000 being injured.
He donated the money to The One Foundation, a private charity set up by Chinese actor Jet Li. After his donation was acknowledged, the star expressed his heartfelt concern for the earthquake victims using Weibo, the Chinese social media service.
The One Foundation vowed to help victims with Kim's donation. His donation is likely to make him even more popular in China where he won the Most Popular Overseas Artist Award at last year's Miguhui Awards.
It's not the first time that the SS501 singer and star of "Boys Over Flowers" and "Playful Kiss" has made a generous donation and he prefers not to publicize his charity efforts. He also made donations to Japan to aid the victims of their recent earthquake and the 2011 tsunami. He donated about $45,000 to the Korean Red Cross Association two years ago then donated another $50,000 to an effort to help heat homes. He also contributes to World Vision, to a home for single mothers, the Smile Angel Foundation, and he is a member of a charity football team, FC Men.
Netizens were pleased to learn of his latest good deed, making comments such as "It's nice to see him always helping those in need," "I'm proud to call myself your fan," and "Kim Hyun Joong, you are not only my idol but you have been a role model for me in so many ways."
Last year his generosity inspired some of his Japanese fans to donate to a scholarship fund in his name. After he learned of their efforts, Kim donated even more money to the same fund organized by the Beautiful Foundation.
"There are many fan clubs who perform good works in the name of celebrities," said Beautiful Foundation director Kim Mikyung. "But it's unusual for a celebrity to respond to a fan club's donations with another donation."
The lead singer of SS501 has added a successful solo career to his work with the popular boy band As an actor, Kim is best known for playing Yoon Ji Hoo in "Boys Over Flowers" and won a Best Actor Award plus a Popularity Award for his performance. But after his latest generous donation, someone may want to give him an award for being such a stand-up guy.
