Anchor: A government-led campaign that began in the new year inviting people to make a donation to help revitalize their hometowns and achieve balanced development has gained much traction with the participation of major celebrities and public figures, as well as an abundance of unique regional gifts offered to donors.

Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The government's so-called "Hometown Love Donation Campaign" that launched on New Year’s Day was widely publicized after participation by global superstars like Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min and BTS member J-Hope.

Last Wednesday, Son donated five million won, the maximum amount equivalent to around four thousand U.S. dollars, to his hometown of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. The city government expected Son's participation to draw public attention to the campaign and to the culture of donating overall.

J-Hope has agreed to make a donation to his birth district in the southwestern city of Gwangju, while former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon donated funds to his hometown of Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province.

Politicians who have pledged donations include Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon and Jeju Governor Oh Young-hun.

Aside from a tax credit for the donation, the latest campaign stands out due to a wide selection of regional specialty products offered as gifts to donors by the various municipal governments.

With a limit on the value of the gift capped at 30 percent of the donation, local governments have put forth some five-thousand items as of Sunday, around 80 percent of which are agricultural, livestock, fisheries and processed food products. They include Korean beef, pork, rice, apples, honey, seaweed, and even wine.

Other gift items include yacht boarding tickets, campground passes, lodging in a traditional Korean village, a temple stay and even a date with a traditional wrestling athlete.

Source: KBS World Radio