Busan is good

Busan’s Hometown Love Donation Surpasses KRW 1 Billion in 2025… 3,000 Chances Still Left to Join the Prize Event!

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The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that as of June 17, the “2025 Hometown Love Donations” have exceeded KRW 1 billion.

○ Between January and June 17 this year, the City received 9,948 donations totaling KRW 1 billion—an increase of 40 times compared to KRW 25.1 million raised during the same period last year.

○ This year’s amount surpasses the KRW 155 million raised in 2023 and KRW 455 million in 2024, setting a new all-time record. Cumulative donations since the launch of the Hometown Love Donation Program in 2023 have now exceeded KRW 1.6 billion.

The City attributes this rapid growth to its unique strategies, including:

• ●Hosting seasonal prize events with special return gifts exclusive to Busan

• ●Actively selecting and expanding local product suppliers for the program in 2025

○ As of 2025, Busan has registered around 110 return gift items on the national online donation portal “Hometown Love eum,” up from 44 items in 2024—an increase of about 2.5 times.

As of June 17, a total of 9,090 return gifts have been provided to donors. The most popular items are:

• ●Pork belly and neck (2,234)

• ●Fish cakes (1,194)

• ●Rice (1,041)

• ●Nak-gop-sae (octopus, tripe, shrimp stir-fry; 836)

• ●Salty tomatoes (781)

• ●Dongbaekjeon (Busan local currency; 625)

• ●Mackerel (572)

• ●Coffee (350)

• ●Bread and snacks (331)

• ●Seaweed (246)

• ●Others (880)

○ These return gifts promote Busan’s local specialties to donors nationwide, while helping local producers expand their markets and contributing to the local economy.

The City is currently running the “Mega Prize Giveaway Event” until June 30. Donors who give KRW 100,000 or more in a single donation during the period will receive two base benefits and a chance at three additional prize categories.

○ The base benefits include:
① A full income tax credit for donations up to KRW 100,000
② Return gifts worth 30% of the donation amount

○ The three additional prize categories include:
① For every 1,000th donor (1,000th, 2,000th, … 10,000th): Up to 10 donors will receive vouchers for a 5-star hotel stay in Haeundae during peak season
② For every 10th donor (10th, 20th, 30th, … 10,000th): Up to 990 donors will receive a choice of one KRW 30,000 gift (e.g., fresh pork belly, Nak-gop-sae meal set, or Busan Star Sand cookies)
③ For every 5th donor (5th, 10th, 15th, … 10,000th): Up to 1,000 donors will receive either a mobile coffee coupon or a KRW 10,000 Dongbaekjeon gift card

These additional prizes will be awarded to a total of 2,000 donors up to the 10,000th participant. Winners will be announced on July 10 through the City’s website (www.busan.go.kr/nbnews) and via SMS.

○ With approximately 7,000 participants so far, there are still 3,000 chances left to win.

All basic return gifts are supplied by 48 local vendors, with around 110 products available. Donors may choose their gift from the “Busan City Return Gift Mall” on the “Hometown Love eum” donation portal.

○ To participate in the event, donors must create an account on the Hometown Love eum platform and select “Busan Metropolitan City” when making a single donation of KRW 100,000 or more.

○ More details are available at the Busan Hometown Love Donation website (busanlove.kr).

Meanwhile, the City is preparing to launch support programs for vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities, using the funds raised so far. These projects are expected to begin in early 2026 after going through the necessary approval process with the Hometown Donation Fund Review Committee.

Cho Young-tae, Director-General of the Administrative Affairs Bureau of Busan, stated, “Since 2023, more than KRW 1.6 billion has been donated to Busan City. We are committed to using these valuable donations to support vulnerable communities and improve residents’ welfare.” He added, “We hope many people will continue to participate in the Hometown Love Donation Program, which not only gives back to donors with local specialties but also greatly helps local businesses.”