Following the harmful August 26 floods in Nepal, Lee Know of the Okay-pop boy band Stray Children donated 100 million received (about $72,600) via World Imaginative and prescient. After Lee Know’s donation, his bandmate Felix donated 50 million received (about $37,000) to the Korean Committee for UNICEF, particularly for Nepal flood reduction, on his birthday. Stray Children’ chief Bang Chan adopted with a 200 million received (about $144,000) donation, giving half to the Korean Committee for UNICEF for Nepal flood reduction and half to Seoul Rehabilitation Hospital.
The gestures echo acts of assist for Nepal by different Korean personalities prior to now. For instance, determine skater Kim Yuna and actor Lee Min-ho (a unique movie star from Lee Know, whose start identify can be Lee Min-ho) prolonged support to Nepal after the devastating earthquake in 2015.
For a lot of Nepalis, this solidarity from Korean public figures has strengthened the goodwill between the 2 international locations. Since diplomatic relations had been established in 1974, Nepal-South Korea ties have grown via labor migration and an change of tradition.
On the time of his donation, Lee Know shared a message via World Imaginative and prescient Korea, which World Imaginative and prescient Worldwide Nepal handed on after I reached out to them. “I hope my assist can supply some consolation and power to these going via this troublesome time,” Lee Know mentioned. “I sincerely hope that displaced households and everybody engaged on reduction efforts on the bottom can return to their peaceable day by day lives as quickly as potential.”
In line with World Imaginative and prescient Worldwide Nepal, Lee Know’s donation, together with different contributions, helps it attain flood-affected communities in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. About 8,600 folks have obtained emergency assist to date, together with meals packages, shelter and hygiene kits, water tanks and pipeline assist. Little one pleasant areas have been arrange for displaced kids. Deliberate subsequent steps embrace livelihood restoration, short-term studying facilities, and restoring group well being and water and sanitation amenities.
For Nepalis, the donations from Korean cultural icons have a particular resonance.
“I felt actually grateful. In Mahottari and Janakpur space we additionally face heavy floods yearly, so after I noticed a Okay-pop idol donated particularly for Nepal flood victims, it felt very private. It seems like somebody far-off really cares about us,” mentioned Priyanshu Kumar Chaudhary, who’s from Janakpur, in Nepal’s flood-prone Mahottari district.
Isha Shrestha, from Kathmandu, mentioned her household wasn’t amongst those that suffered essentially the most direct destruction. However, to her, the catastrophe nonetheless “felt very shut” due to how deeply related the capital is to the affected areas like Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. When she shared the information of Lee Know’s donation with mates who don’t comply with Okay-pop, she mentioned, “They had been genuinely shocked and appreciated that somebody from Korea cared sufficient to assist Nepal.” She believes that it’s an indication that such actions form perceptions of South Korea “past Okay-pop and leisure.”
However why do idols donate? Dr. Kaushal Kumar, chairperson on the Centre for Korean Research at Jawaharlal Nehru College, believes that these gestures maintain private weight. Idols like Lee Know, he mentioned, are pushed by their humanitarian facet. Extra particularly, they really feel a way of reciprocity towards their followers. In Kumar’s studying, the giving flows from the fandom itself, with the idols exhibiting up for the individuals who persistently present up for them.
“Once I heard that Lee Know had donated 100 million received to assist folks affected in Nepal, I joined in with a small donation of my very own,” a Stray Children fan advised the Korea JoongAng Every day on September 14. The fan mentioned they selected to listing the donor’s identify as “Keep,” the group’s fandom identify, giving as a part of the fandom quite than as a person.
Whereas movie star giving is private, emotionally resonant, and reaches Nepalis who would possibly by no means learn a bilateral support settlement, state support leaves lasting outcomes because it helps rebuild hospitals and institutional partnerships. Chaeyoon Oh, an financial and improvement specialist on the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal, underscored South Korea’s position within the floods’ aftermath. She mentioned that Korea deployed its Catastrophe Reduction Workforce and despatched DNA-identification specialists. Extra lately, South Korea despatched emergency tools via the U.N. Improvement Program (UNDP) on the request of Nepal’s Nationwide Catastrophe Threat Discount and Administration Authority.
“To me, this goes past a government-to-government relationship,” Oh mentioned. “It’s an instance of how folks in a single nation can see the difficulties confronted by folks out of the country and really feel compelled to assist.”
Dr. Dhruba Gautam, an skilled related to Nepal’s Nationwide Catastrophe Threat Discount Middle (NDRC Nepal), confirmed that this Nepal-South Korea camaraderie is a component of a bigger observe file. After the 2015 earthquake, South Korea’s support company, KOICA, offered $9 million to rebuild Trishuli Hospital and 10 well being posts in Nuwakot. Following Nepal’s 2024 floods, South Korea gave $500,000 via UNICEF for medical tents and sanitation assist. After this August’s floods, Seoul and the UNDP additionally equipped Nepal’s catastrophe authority with camera-equipped drones and transportable turbines for search and rescue. In line with Gautam, South Korea’s clearest contribution has been via sensible means akin to the availability of apparatus and well being infrastructure.
Roslyn Hanson Gabriel, nationwide director of World Imaginative and prescient Worldwide Nepal, mentioned that assist from all sections of society is helpful in combating pure disasters. “We’re deeply grateful for the generosity and solidarity proven by supporters around the globe, together with Lee Know and lots of others who’ve stood with Nepal throughout this troublesome time,” she mentioned in a written response. “Contributions akin to these assist us attain kids and households affected by the floods with pressing reduction help whereas additionally supporting longer-term restoration efforts. Past the monetary assist, such expressions of worldwide solidarity assist shine a lightweight on the wants of susceptible communities and remind them that they aren’t going through these challenges alone.”
Diplomacy and tradition reinforce the bond between two international locations – with the assistance prolonged by particular person personalities offering an emotional cost that state visits and MOUs discover troublesome to realize, regardless that each work on constructing the belief between nations.
Each Chaudhary and Shrestha famous that gratitude for the help is the start of an extended journey to restoration. Chaudhary pointed to the persisting wants in his district: “We’d like long-term options like higher river administration, stronger homes, early warning methods. We’re a powerful group, we simply want assist to be extra ready.”
Shrestha put it straight when she mentioned, “Thanks for standing with Nepal,” addressing Korean followers and celebrities. “However please keep in mind us past the headlines. Lengthy-term assist for rebuilding communities and livelihoods could make a good deeper distinction.”
This can be a partnership that each governments and most of the people on each side appear intent on deepening. It’s the consistency that issues in connecting two nations in occasions of want.
Feedback from officers quoted on this piece had been shared of their private capability. They don’t essentially signify the official positions of their respective establishments. The assertion from World Imaginative and prescient Worldwide Nepal was offered by the group in response to the writer’s request for remark.
Donations for Nepal flood reduction are being accepted via World Imaginative and prescient and UNICEF.
