Lee Seung-gi donates $450,000 to Korean Red Cross for his birthday

Singer and actor Lee Seung-gi donated 550 million won ($450,000) to the Korean Red Cross in celebration of his birthday on Jan. 13. The donation was made to help increase bloodmobiles ...

Lee Seung-gi, right, donates 550 million won ($450,000) to the Korean Red Cross. Pictured left is Shin Hee-young, president of the Korean Red Cross. [KOREAN RED CROSS]

Singer and actor Lee Seung-gi donated 550 million won ($450,000) to the Korean Red Cross in celebration of his birthday on Jan. 13.

The donation was made to help increase bloodmobiles and free food distribution buses around the country, according to a press release published by the Korean Red Cross on Friday.

"I decided to make the donation in hopes that it will help console the hearts of people who are suffering due to disasters nationwide," Lee said.

"I feel proud to give back to society the love that I've received from people. In particular, I've seen donated blood run out in medical fields and I hope that the buses help more people donate blood."

Lee is famous for his frequent and consistent donations and is already a member of the Red Cross Honors Club (RCHC). He recently donated 2 billion won to the Seoul National University Children’s Hospital, following his continued interest in supporting and doing volunteer work for children over the years.

Last month, Lee ended his contract with Hook Entertainment upon becoming aware that his agency, Hook Entertainment, had failed to pay him fairly.

Lee has been a popular singer since his debut in 2004 and released a total of 137 songs over the past 18 years. He claims he had not received any payment for the digital streams or downloads of his songs.

When Lee brought these facts to the Hook Entertainment executives, they acknowledged their faults and on Dec. 16 paid Lee a total of 5.4 billion won in its own calculations.

Lee claimed that the 5.4 billion won, calculated by his agency, was nowhere close to the amount that his team estimated, and notified Hook Entertainment that he will not stop the lawsuit. On the same day, Lee said that he would donate the entire amount to charity.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]