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Using foreign coins to help children overseas

Posted August. 24, 2016 07:29,   

Updated August. 24, 2016 07:35

한국어
Foreign coins thrown at “Lucky Coins,” one of the most famous attractions at Cheonggyecheon in central Seoul, will be used to help children in water-stressed countries. Korean coins have been collected and used to support tuition fees of high school students from poor families in Seoul through a scholarship program by the Seoul Scholarship Foundation.

The Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation donated 35,000 foreign coins thrown by tourists from January through July to UNICEF Korea in the name of Seoul Citizens to help support water programs for children in water-stressed countries, the corporation said on Tuesday. The amount of coins was not calculated. The corporation has been donating foreign coins collected from “Lucky Coins” to international relief organizations every year.

“Lucky Coins” was constructed around the stone architecture Palseokdam near the Mojeon Bridge at Cheonggyecheon during restoration of Cheonggyecheon in 2005. The Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation held a handover ceremony on Tuesday and set up a board with explanations on the use and purpose of “Lucky coins.”

“Those coins contain wishes and hopes of tourists visiting Cheonggyecheon, and thus commitment will be made to use those coins in a more meaningful way,” said Park Gwan-seon, chief of Headquarters of Culture and Sports under the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation.



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