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https://scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3022464/k-pop-stars-taeyeon-and-iu-help-needy-and-win-fans-hearts Celebrities
K-pop stars Taeyeon and IU help the needy and win fans’ hearts
Girl group member has donated more than US$80,000 to disadvantaged girls, while singer-actress has supported a scheme helping pensioners living alone in Seoul
The two K-pop stars Taeyeon (left) and IU have donated money to support Korean people in need. Photos: SM Entertainment/Korea Times
K-pop divas Taeyeon and IU have both been recognised for making charity donations to needy Korean people, including teenage girls and elderly single people.
Taeyeon, 30, leader of the girl group Girls’ Generation, whose full name is Kim Tae-yeon, recently donated 100 million won (US$83,000) to buy health and hygiene items for disadvantaged teenage girls.
The singer has also joined Korea’s Red Cross Honours Club, which includes individual donors who have given more than 100 million won to the charity. She is reportedly the club's 132nd member.
On Wednesday, she took part in the initiation ceremony at the head office of the Korean Red Cross in Seoul, the organisation said.
“I hope my contribution can be used in a helpful way,” she said at the ceremony. “I decided to donate in appreciation of my fans.”
In July Taeyeon, who made her debut as a member of Girls' Generation in 2007 released her chart-topping song All About You – which appears on the soundtrack for the Korean fantasy drama series Hotel Del Luna.
Singer-actress IU, 26, who co-stars in the drama series, Hotel Del Luna, contributed 10 million won (US$8,300) to elderly people living alone in Korea, according to a newsletter published by Seoul's local government district of Seocho-gu.
“We handed the elderly 100 summer blankets, thanks to IU's donation,” the newsletter said.
IU, whose real name is Lee Ji-eun, initially considered supplying electric fans, but later decided to provide blankets, which were more in demand, reports said.
She also has been donating to dozens of other organisations including ChildFund Korea. In April, she supported victims of a massive forest fire that swept through mountainous Gangwon province in the northeast of the country by making a donation of 100 million won.
IU, who has a string of smash-hit songs including Good Day, has also starred in television dramas such as 2016’s Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.
This article was originally written by Dong Sun-hwa for the Korea Times .