"2000 Free Mask Straps and Forgiving 200 Million Won Debt..."... COVID-19 Heroes

Sanghyup Lee, Head of External Cooperation at Naver; Jinyong Kim, Head of Infection Control at Incheon Medical Center; Taeseon Lim, CEO of Yeongcheon Restaurant; Youngrae Kim, Chairman of the Small and Medium Business Love Sharing Foundation; Second Lieutenant Hyemin Kwak, 60th class of the Armed Forces Nursing Academy; Daegwon Lee, CEO of Ttoridi; Jaewon Lee, Executive Director of the Korea Federation of SMEs (from left), are attending the awards ceremony of the 'Good Deeds Discovery Contest during COVID-19' held on the 15th at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul, posing for a commemorative photo.

# Lee Daegwon, CEO of Tteurid, a 3D printing company in Gwangju Metropolitan City. Due to the domestic demand contraction caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), he had temporarily stopped operating 3D printers. However, after hearing about the difficulties faced by healthcare workers and others who have to wear masks for extended periods, he decided to donate his skills. CEO Lee designed and produced mask straps using 3D printing technology that reduce the pain caused by mask straps touching behind the ears. Since February, he has provided more than 2,000 pieces free of charge to the Gwangju Social Welfare Department and other institutions. He also made the 3D modeling files publicly available for anyone to use.

The Small and Medium Business Love Sharing Foundation announced on the 18th that it selected and awarded a total of six cases as 'COVID-19 Heroes' to deliver hopeful messages to our society, which has been contracted due to COVID-19.

The award ceremony was held on the 15th at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul. The Love Sharing Foundation invited CEO Lee Daegwon, horticulturist Kim Daeyong, Kim Jinyong, head of the Infection Control Office at Incheon Medical Center, 75 nursing officers from the 60th class of the Armed Forces Nursing Academy, Lim Taeseon, CEO of Yeongcheon Restaurant and his staff, and volunteer Yoon Myeongdeok (pseudonym) from a senior support center who wished to remain anonymous. Each received a plaque of appreciation and a prize of 1 million won in Onnuri gift certificates.

Horticulturist Kim Daeyong had operated a sole proprietorship selling agricultural materials such as seeds and fertilizers. However, due to customers who delayed payments or fled without paying, he accumulated 200 million won in accounts receivable, which made management difficult, and he closed his business a year and a half ago.

While Kim was going around to collect outstanding payments from rural customers, COVID-19 broke out. Although he needed to collect the debts, seeing the farmers struggling as their carefully grown crops were not selling due to the pandemic, he felt more pain for them than for himself and ultimately decided not to collect the full amount of the debts.

Volunteer Yoon from the senior support center also moved people by putting others before himself despite being a solitary elderly person. Although he was in poor financial condition and physically unwell, when the mask shortage occurred due to COVID-19, he sought ways to help and donated his sewing skills. To provide masks when they were needed, he would wake up in the middle of the night or sit at the sewing machine whenever he had time, even during meals. In March alone, he donated a total of 1,000 masks to the senior support center.

Additionally, Kim Jinyong, head of the Infection Control Office at Incheon Medical Center, is well known for curing the first confirmed COVID-19 patient in Korea and for being the first to propose the 'drive-thru' screening clinic method. The 75 newly commissioned nursing officers from the 60th class of the Armed Forces Nursing Academy were deployed to the Armed Forces Daegu Hospital after their graduation and commissioning ceremonies to support the inpatient treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Lim Taeseon, CEO of Yeongcheon Restaurant, faced management difficulties due to COVID-19 and decided to close his second branch. However, he reconsidered because he felt sorry for the employees who had been with him since the early days of the business and decided to operate only lunch service instead of closing entirely. Thanks to CEO Lim’s efforts to maintain employment, the employees voluntarily gave up part of their salaries, and together they are overcoming the crisis.

The Love Sharing Foundation had previously held a 'COVID-19 Good Deeds Discovery Contest' from March 25 to April 8 this year and selected the most touching cases. The contest was held as part of the 'COVID-19 Overcoming Project,' sponsored by Naver and organized by the Korea Federation of SMEs and the Love Sharing Foundation.

The Love Sharing Foundation is a public interest foundation established in 2012 by the Korea Federation of SMEs, which represents the rights and interests of 3.6 million small and medium enterprises, to promote social contribution in the SME sector.

Kim Youngrae, chairman of the Love Sharing Foundation, said, "The world admired Korea’s response because of the wit and consideration of hidden heroes," adding, "The SME sector will carry on the baton from the COVID-19 heroes and take the lead in revitalizing Korea’s economy, which is the next challenge." Reporter Kim Daeseop joas11@

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.