KaKao

- Kakao Together launched an emergency donation campaign on the 4th, and over 590K users participated.

- Chairman Kim Beom-soo will also donate KRW 1B worth of personal stocks to Korea Disaster Relief Association.

- Over 900K users have joined fundraising drives, including 310K users participating in fundraising for Ukraine.

 

[Mar 8, 2022] Kakao has joined nationwide efforts to help victims hit hard by recent wildfires.

 

The social contribution platform of Kakao, Kakao Together, has raised over KRW 1.2 billion to support the recovery of wildfire-affected areas such as Uljin in North Gyeongsang Province and Gangneung and Samcheok in Gangwon Province and help the victims, with more than 590,000 users participating in its emergency fundraising campaign. Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-soo has also decided to donate KRW 1 billion worth of personal stocks to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association to share the same cause with the users.

 

After the wildfires broke out on the 4th, Kakao Together opened an emergency fundraising box to raise donations together with the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association, Good Neighbors, World Vision, the Community Chest of Korea, in the evening of the same day. With a high response from users, the news spread quickly through SNS channels, and donations poured in. In just two days, over 340,000 users participated in the fundraising drive.

 

The funds raised from this campaign will be delivered to various organizations and will be used to provide drinking water, food, daily necessities including blankets and relief kits for victims hit by wildfires, as well as housing and livelihood support for those who have lost their homes.

 

Users who want to participate in the cause can donate money directly to the fundraising box, or participate by writing supportive comments at the bottom of the campaign homepage. Kakao will donate 1,000 won whenever a user writes a supportive comment. When a user clicks “Cheer” or shares supportive comments, Kakao will also donate 1,000 won additionally.

 

A Kakao official said, “Users are quickly reaching out to help the people hit hard by the wildfires, as well as to support children in Ukraine. So far, over 900K users have joined the fundraising drives,” and “We sincerely hope that the sites can be safely restored without additional damage and that residents can quickly return to their daily lives.”

 

Meanwhile, Kakao has been operating ‘Kakao Together’, a social contribution platform where anyone can participate in fundraising and donation, since December 2007. To date (as of Mar 2022), the cumulative donation amount has reached approximately KRW 49.2 billion, with more than 14,560 fundraising boxes. Chairman Kim Beom-soo has consistently realized the value of sharing by donating more than KRW 20 billion to date, including KRW 2 billion to overcome damage from COVID-19 in 2020 and KRW 1 billion to repair damage caused by heavy rain.