Hana marks Pepero Day in nontraditional way

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai makes kimchi to be delivered to low-income families during the Modu Hana Day campaign, held in front of KEB Hana Bank’s headquarters in central Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWSIS]

While most Seoulites celebrated Pepero Day by delivering Lotte’s famously sweet chocolate-covered sticks to their loved ones, Hana Financial Group opted for something a little saltier.

The financial group on Wednesday held an event in front of KEB Hana Bank’s headquarters in Myeong-dong, downtown Seoul, to make kimchi for the city’s lower-income households.

The banking group dubbed the day “Modu Hana Day,” which translate to “everyone’s Hana day.” Hana is not only the company’s name, but also translates to the number one or “becoming one” in Korean. According to the company, it made kimchi out of 11,111 Napa cabbages to celebrate the event. Some 400 people - including employees and executives of Hana Financial Group, members of volunteer groups and multinational families - took part in the massive ceremony.

“Modu Hana Day, now in its fifth year, is an event where neighbors, colleagues and the world become one through the spirit of volunteering and sharing,” Chairman Kim Jung-tai said on Wednesday. “With this ceremony we have successfully rooted the beauty of tradition in Hana Financial Group’s social contributions.”

Hana also said it plans to make an additional 6,500 boxes containing necessities and school supplies that will be delivered to children and senior citizens living in poverty. The banking group said it has so far delivered roughly 5,000 of the so-called “happiness boxes.” The goal is to deliver a total of 11,111 of the boxes by the end of the year. It will be delivered not only to children’s centers in Korea, but also in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Pepero Day, which is similar to Valentine’s Day, is widely celebrated in Korea. The stick-shaped confectionaries are gifted because they look like the number one. The holiday is believed to have started in the mid-1990s.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]