First Lieutenant Kim Minju Jin donates hair for children with cancer

"Sending Love Strand by Strand": 30cm Hair Donation for Pediatric Cancer Patients Ahead of Chuseok

Lieutenant Kim Minju, a member of the Jinhae Naval Base Command (hereafter referred to as 'Jingisa'), donated her hair, which she had carefully grown for the past three years, to pediatric cancer patients ahead of Chuseok, the traditional Korean holiday, on the 13th.

Lieutenant Minju Kim, affiliated with the Naval Jinhae Base Command.

Since her middle school days, Lieutenant Kim has volunteered her talents by visiting local orphanages and welfare centers for the disabled. After entering a foreign language high school, she used her experience studying in China to teach children foreign languages such as English and Chinese, as well as the violin. She felt the joy of volunteering by seeing how happy the children were.

Later, in 2021, she cut her long hair short to join the Navy ROTC. Seeing the hair that had fallen, she realized that even hair she had trimmed without much thought could be helpful to someone. She decided to take special care of her hair during her military service and donate it to the 'Eomeona Movement Headquarters.'

To donate hair, one must avoid treatments such as perms and dyeing, and grow it to at least 25 cm in length. Although it was inconvenient to maintain long hair during her busy military life and various trainings, Lieutenant Kim made sure to dry her hair naturally to prevent damage and paid special attention to keeping it healthy.

As a result, she was able to grow her hair even longer and fuller than her original goal, and ahead of this Chuseok, she donated 30 cm of hair for children with pediatric cancer.

Lieutenant Kim, who works in the Psychological Operations Office at Jingisa, said, "I hope my small donation will inspire those around me to care for their neighbors and practice sharing love. Since it takes donations from more than 200 people to make a single wig, I hope more people will participate in this hair donation to help children with cancer."

Meanwhile, as a psychological operations officer, Lieutenant Kim is at the forefront of promoting the unit's various activities and sharing positive stories about the soldiers, ensuring they receive wider recognition.