[News Terms] 'Social Welfare Community Chest' That Self-Allocated Donation Funds

The 'Community Chest of Korea' is a quasi-governmental organization established to ensure fair fundraising and distribution of donations. It operates to promote public understanding and participation in social welfare through community fundraising campaigns and to contribute to the enhancement of social welfare by efficiently and fairly managing and operating funds voluntarily raised by the public.

In November 1998, the organization was established under the 'Community Chest of Korea Act,' enacted to ensure fair fundraising and distribution following the 1994 public office donation misuse incident. This transferred various donations previously raised and managed by the government to the private sector.

The symbol of the Community Chest of Korea is the 'Fruit of Love.' The three red fruits represent oneself, family, and neighbors; the red color of the fruits symbolizes warm love; and the single stem that unites them signifies the creation of a society where people live together harmoniously.

The Love Temperature Tower installed at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul is showing a sharing temperature of 103.9 degrees. The Community Chest of Korea, also known as Sarangui Yeolmae, launched the "Hope 2023 Sharing Campaign" on December 1 last year, raising the temperature by 1 degree each time 1% (4.04 billion KRW) of the 404 billion KRW target amount was collected. This year, the target amount was achieved one day earlier than January 17, when last year's target was met. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Fundraising activities began in December 1998. In 2002, the Angel Lottery, the nation’s first internet welfare lottery, was launched; in 2005, the Sharing Culture Center was opened; and in 2007, the Honor Society, a group of high-net-worth individual donors, was established. In 2021, 761.9 billion KRW was raised, and through the Hope 2022 Sharing Campaign (December 1, 2021 ? January 31, 2022), 427.9 billion KRW was collected.

The Community Chest of Korea Central Headquarters consists of a president, secretary-general, five divisions including Planning and Coordination, Management Support, Fundraising, Distribution, and External Public Relations, as well as the Sharing Research Institute and 17 branches nationwide. The president receives advice and audits from the Citizen Monitoring Committee, the Board of Directors, auditors, and four subcommittee executive members. Following the tradition that the president’s spouse serves as the honorary chairperson of the Community Chest, since July 2018, Kim Jung-sook, wife of former President Moon Jae-in, has held the honorary chairperson position.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that through an audit of last year’s Community Chest, it was found that during the distribution of donations, members of the central and branch distribution subcommittees participated in the review and resolution of distribution applications from organizations where they were employed, effectively engaging in 'self-distribution,' and that this was neglected.

The Community Chest violated regulations prohibiting distribution committee members from participating in the review and resolution of applications related to corporations, institutions, organizations, or facilities where they or their relatives are employed or have special relationships. Based on the audit results, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a formal warning to the Community Chest.