This Year's 'Jeya-ui Jong' Bell Ringers... 20,000-Hour Volunteers, 700-Time Blood Donation Heroes

Seoul City Announces 11 Bell-Ringing Participants for Bell-Ringing Ceremony
Selected from 90 Candidates through Public Recruitment and Recommendations
Includes Honorary Mayor Godusim and Baseball Legend Kim Seonggeun

At midnight on December 31, 11 bell ringers have been finally selected to participate in the 2024 New Year's Eve 'Jeya (除夜) Bell Ringing' event held at Bosingak in Jongno-gu, Seoul. They will directly participate in ringing the bell 33 times as representatives of the citizens.

On the 19th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that after receiving recommendations for citizens who have been exemplary in our society since last November, 11 citizen representatives were selected from about 90 candidates. They were chosen through public recruitment and recommendations, and reviewed by the 'Bell Ringers Recommendation Committee' composed of 9 Seoul-based reporters.

On the 30th, Seoul Jongno-gu Boshingak had a notice related to the 'Jeya's Bell' ringing ceremony posted, as Seoul City announced that to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this year's Boshingak 'Jeya's Bell' ringing ceremony will be held online without an on-site event, following last year. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The selected bell ringers this time are citizens who have demonstrated exemplary activities in various sectors of our society. Included are Shin Kyung-soon, who has continued rice-sharing volunteer work for 39 years; Kim Ki-tak, who contributed to overcoming low birth rates by spreading a father-childcare culture; and Kim Chun-sim, who has volunteered for over 20,000 hours in 25 years. Particularly notable are Firefighter Park Jun-hyun, who saved a driver just before falling off a bridge, Lee Seung-gi, who has donated blood more than 700 times over 45 years, and visually impaired YouTuber Kim Han-sol.

Also joining are actress Ko Doo-shim, honorary mayor of Seoul; Kim Sung-geun, a leading figure in Korean baseball coaching; and actor Kim Seok-hoon, who runs an environmental YouTube channel spreading messages about environmental protection. Kwak Kyung-hee, who has supported single mothers and multicultural families, and Haechi, Seoul’s representative character, were also selected as bell ringers.

Lee Hoe-seung, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Culture Headquarters, said, "Through the 2024 Jeya Bell Ringing, we hope the positive influence shown by the righteous people in our society will widely spread in the new year as well."

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