Naver said it donated 1 billion won to support the recovery from the large forest fire damage in the Gyeongsangdo and Ulsan regions on the 27th.
The relief fund has been delivered to the National Disaster Relief Association through Happy Bean, and it will be used in various ways for the recovery of the fire-affected areas and support for the victims.
In addition to the donation, Naver is utilizing various Naver platforms such as Naver Map, Happy Bean, and Weather to help prevent the spread of forest fire damage. The Naver Map displays notices related to the large forest fire on the main app screen to assist users' safe movement, providing information on road controls and actions to take during a forest fire. Furthermore, users can validate forest fire impact areas and control sections more intuitively as the areas are highlighted with forest fire icons on the map.
Naver is also operating a special page for forest fire under the hashtag #forestfire, allowing users to gather weather alerts, disaster texts, and news updates. On the special page, the 'Report Talk' section allows users to share real-time information about conditions in their respective areas. From the 22nd to the 26th, about 20,000 individuals participated in direct reporting.
Naver's online donation platform 'Happy Bean' is conducting fundraising activities for forest fire recovery in collaboration with organizations such as the National Disaster Relief Association, the Community Chest of Korea, and the Korean Red Cross. As of 8 a.m. on the 27th, the number of donations through Happy Bean is approximately 210,000, with a total of 5 billion won in donations.
On that day, Kakao stated that more than 1.2 million users have participated in the emergency fundraising campaign operated by the social contribution platform 'Kakao Together' to support recovery from the large forest fire damage in regions such as Gyeongnam, Gyeongbuk, and Ulsan, with over 5 billion won in donations collected so far. Kakao also plans to donate a total of 1 billion won, contributing 1,000 won for each supportive comment from users.
Kakao Together opened an emergency donation box in collaboration with the Community Chest of Korea, the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association, and others to raise funds starting from the morning of the 23rd. The fundraising news spread widely through various social media channels, attracting more than 1.2 million participants within four days.
The funds raised from the warm-hearted contributions of users will be used to supply food items such as bottled water and groceries, essentials like blankets, and emergency kits for the victims in the fire-affected areas, as well as for housing and livelihood support for those who have lost their homes.
Users wishing to participate in the fundraising can either donate an amount directly or write supportive comments to easily join in. By commenting on the emergency donation box page, Kakao will donate 1,000 won for each comment, and if comments are made on individual donation box pages, 100 won will be donated.
Kakao is fulfilling its social responsibility and realizing the value of sharing by providing various humanitarian assistance during domestic and international disasters. In 2022, it raised over 2.2 billion won for recovery from heavy rain damage and over 2.6 billion won for recovery from beach forest fire damage. In February 2023, it raised approximately 4.8 billion won for recovery efforts from earthquakes in the Syria-Turkiye region, and in April of the same year, it raised over 2.2 billion won for recovery efforts from forest fire damage in the Gangneung area.
Kakao has been operating the social contribution platform 'Kakao Together' since December 2007, allowing anyone to participate in fundraising and donations. To date, the cumulative donation amount has reached around 81.2 billion won, with more than 18,950 donation boxes having been opened.