Kim Yu-na donates $100,000 for Philippines typhoon relief

Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na has donated $100,000 to a relief organization for the typhoon-hit Philippines.

The Korean Committee for UNICEF said Thursday that Kim made the donation on Wednesday.

“Through the Korean Committee for UNICEF, Kim has sponsored underprivileged and sick children at the end of each year. This year, she informed us that she wanted to help children affected by the powerful typhoon in the Philippines,” it said. “Her donation will be used to supply drinking water and for education and hygiene projects for these children.”

On Tuesday, Kim encouraged Koreans to donate to the Philippines in a message on her Twitter account.

Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines last week, claiming more than 2,000 lives and leaving thousands of others injured or missing.

Kim has been an international ambassador for UNICEF since July 2010. Six months earlier, she’d already donated 100 million won ($93,700) to UNICEF for earthquake victims in Haiti. In May 2011, she donated her second-place prize money she won at the 2011 world championships to help children in earth quake-hit Japan.

Kim has made donations each year to needy Korean children as well since 2010.

South Korea has pledged $5 million in aid and a team of 40 rescue and medical workers for relief efforts in the Philippines.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)