Koreans from U.S. hold charity event

Thirty-three members of the Global Children Foundation, an organization of Korean women living in the United States, arrived in Seoul on Thursday to participate in a charity bazaar for children going without meals.

The foundation members, led president Bang Sook-Ja, brought with them U.S.-made clothes, coffee and other daily necessities worth about US$7,000 (7.8 million won) for the ¡°Bazaar of Love,¡± which the Friends of Love is holding Saturday at Ryu Kwan-Soon Memorial Hall in downtown Seoul.

"We decided to participate in this event because we think that children should not go without food under any circumstance,¡± Bang said. ¡°All the mothers of the world are committed to cherishing and taking care of children.¡±

The foundation was organized in 1998 by about 20 Korean women living in Washington, D.C., to help children of their motherland who were suffering difficulties under the currency crisis that forced the country to rely on an International Monetary Fund bailout program.

In two years, the organization grew into a large welfare group with 1,000 members, setting up four branches across the United States. The foundation, operated by subsidies from Korean religious groups in the United States and annual membership fee of US$120, so far has donated US$170,000 for needy children in Korea.

Choi Ho-Won bestiger@donga.com