Samsung Executive Donates 10% of Special Bonus, Raising 10 Billion Won to Produce Blood Donation Bus

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Samsung Group announced on the 12th that it has donated about 10 billion won, voluntarily contributed by executives of its affiliates from 10% of the special incentive bonuses they received in December last year, to the Korean Red Cross.

The donation will be used to support the production of new blood donation buses to address the blood shortage issue.

South Korea is experiencing a chronic blood shortage due to low birth rates and aging population, and the situation has worsened over the past two years with the COVID-19 pandemic, causing a sharp decline in group blood donations. Medical facilities frequently face crises such as surgery cancellations due to blood shortages. The number of blood donations, which exceeded 2.7 million in 2017, decreased to 2.6 million in 2019 and about 2.4 million in 2020. Last year also remained at around 2.4 million, a decrease of more than 10% compared to 2017.

In particular, group blood donations using blood donation buses account for about 30% of total donations. The annual number of group donations, which exceeded 900,000 in 2017, sharply dropped to around 640,000 after the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, and last year remained at about 630,000.

Choi Young-moo, Head of Samsung Social Contribution, said, "Samsung executives gathered their hearts to contribute because they believe that we must stand with society especially in difficult times," adding, "We hope this donation will help resolve the blood shortage issue that is facing a crisis due to COVID-19."

Shin Hee-young, President of the Korean Red Cross, said, "We deeply appreciate Samsung's steady sharing activities every year, and especially, this meaningful donation will be used valuably for the production of blood donation buses."

The Korean Red Cross currently operates 94 blood donation buses at 15 blood centers nationwide. Among them, about 10 buses need to be replaced annually due to aging, but due to budget shortages, only about six buses are replaced each year.

The aged blood donation buses that have exceeded their service life suffer from frequent breakdowns, lowering their operational rate and posing safety risks, which has been identified as one of the factors hindering the smooth progress of group blood donation campaigns conducted at military units or large workplaces.

The Korean Red Cross plans to use the donations from Samsung executives to replace four aged blood donation buses with new models every year for the next 10 years, thereby improving the operational rate and safety of the entire fleet of blood donation buses.

Meanwhile, the new presidents of Samsung’s major affiliates are expected to continue joining the 'Honors Club' this year. The Honors Club is a group of high-value donors who have donated or pledged to donate more than 100 million won to nonprofit organizations such as the Community Chest of Korea.

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