Charity head promises to donate part of his salary

The new secretary general of the Community Chest of Korea said Sunday that he will donate 1 million won ($890) from his salary every month.

The announcement came after the nation’s only legal charity was dealt a serious blow in an internal corruption scandal at the end of last year.

“There were some criticisms that the salary of our executives is too high. As I’m working for a charitable organization, I have decided to donate 1 million won every month starting this month,” Park Sung-jong, the secretary general, said in an interview.

After taking office in early January, Park had revealed his monthly income through the charity’s website, pledging to donate some of it.

Park’s annual income is about 90 million won. When taxes and insurance contributions are deducted, he receives some 5.8 million won a month.

Park, who served as the head of the Seocho District Office and director general of public affairs for Seoul City, also donated 10 million won in 2009 to help 16 elderly people.

“Some executives and employees have also been donating some of their income. I’ll try to encourage more others to join the move,” he said.

On Sunday, one week before the charity’s annual fund-raising completes, the total amount of collected money was 189.4 billion won, meeting 85.4 percent of the final goal.

“I feel shameful that the donations have decreased due to our fault. We will try to let more people to know about our reform efforts,” Park said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)