The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Charity auction attracts fans of Korea’s top celebrities

By Lee Woo-young

Published : Oct. 10, 2013 - 19:19

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Visitors make a bid for items donated by celebrities at a charity auction held Thursday as part of Herald Design Week 2013 at exhibition space NEMO at Blue Square, Hannam-dong, Seoul. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald) Visitors make a bid for items donated by celebrities at a charity auction held Thursday as part of Herald Design Week 2013 at exhibition space NEMO at Blue Square, Hannam-dong, Seoul. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald)
More than 30 items donated by Korea’s top celebrities went on the block at a charity auction held Thursday afternoon, on the fourth day of the Herald Design Week 2013.

The auction was conducted as a silent auction in which participants submitted bids in writing. The bidding, held from 2-4 p.m., drew visitors looking for bargains and fans of some of Korea’s top celebrities on the lookout for items donated by their favorite stars.

“I chose a coffee cup designed by fashion designer Lie Sang Bong. It looks unique,” said Lee Jeong-yoon, who made a bid for a white coffee cup decorated with small red crystals.

Some of the highlight items included actor Lee Byung-hun’s autographed DVD of the recent hit period drama “Gwanghae: The Man Who Became the King” (Masquerade), a red Louis Vuitton skirt donated by actress Kim Hee-sun, a jacket and a belt worn by the K-pop boy group Teen Top and stage costumes of the K-pop girl group Girl’s Day.

All proceeds from the auction will go to Olje Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting learning through classics, according to organizers.

“All proceeds will be used in publishing the classics, which will be distributed to a wide audience, especially young students,” said So Don-young, executive vice president of Artday.

The items on the auction block were presented at prices that attracted diverse visitors to the Herald Design Market.

“The auction is held at the Herald Design Market, part of the Herald Design Week. We receive such a diverse range of visitors here and we wanted to make them feel they could bid for their favorite celebrity,” said Park Chan-uk, one of the organizers of the auction.

The auction presented caps donated by MC and comedian Kang Ho-dong, actor Jung-Joon-ho; clothes by actor Cha In-pyo, actress Shin Ae-ra, fashion designer Choi Bum-suk, and K-pop singer-turned-actress Eugene; jewelry from actor Lee Min-ho, Shinhwa and singer Bada and autographed CDs by Chang Kiha and the Faces band, 2PM and pianist Kim Sun-wook.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)