Park Jae-hyuk is a seasoned journalist who has provided comprehensive coverage of South Korea's corporate dynamics, economic policies, industry challenges and the global positioning of Korean companies. Based on the articles he has written since joining The Korea Times in 2016, his investigative approach has helped readers understand corporate governance, economic trends and business strategies shaping South Korea’s economy.
LG employee surprised by unexpected attention to his donation pledge
This combined photo shows LG Electronics employee Choi Jung-hyun making a pledge to donate 1,000 won ($0.7) per subscriber to neighbors in need in a video clip uploaded on his YouTube channel, July 4, and Choi asking his subscribers to unsubscribe from his channel in another video clip uploaded on Monday. Captured from Choi's YouTube channel
By Park Jae-hyuk
An LG Electronics employee has become the talk of the town, as the number of subscribers to his personal YouTube channel has soared to over 10,000 within a week after he promised to donate 1,000 won ($0.7) per subscriber to neighbors in need.
To fulfill his promise, he will now have to donate over 10 million won.
Choi Jung-hyun, an employee at LG Twin Towers in Seoul, made the pledge in a video clip while introducing a kiosk machine installed in the building. This kiosk was set up to enable the conglomerate’s employees to donate money more conveniently to families in crisis, undernourished children and injured firefighters.
LG employees can make limitless donations by tapping their employee identification cards on the machine.
“Perhaps 50 subscribers will be the best,” Choi said in the video clip uploaded on July 4. “I did not talk with my wife about this plan.”
However, after another YouTuber, who has more than 440,000 subscribers, shared Choi’s video clip, the LG employee’s promise has unexpectedly gone viral on social media.
Choi therefore uploaded another video clip, Monday, to humorously ask his subscribers to unsubscribe from his channel.
“If the size of donation becomes much larger than my monthly salary, I cannot afford it alone,” he wrote on his channel. “I will ask for support from my company’s executives.”
In response, LG Electronics said that the company is considering supporting Choi, so that his good deed does not weigh too heavily on him.
“Once the size of the donation is fixed, we will search for an appropriate donee,” the company said.
“We are reviewing whether our company’s financial support for the employee is legal and how we can provide such support.”