Lee Hyori has waived the entire rental fee for the tenants of her Hannam-dong building in Seoul to help residents cope with challenges presented by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to the economy.
According to a report by South China Morning Post, Lee Hyori decided to waive the rental fee to help out the residents during this trying period that affected South Korea.
Amid the global health pandemic, the country was hit hard with close to 8,413 cases of COVID-19 patients since January. Cities have been placed as special care zones with mass testing happening in key areas.The event has pushed Koreans into hard times and celebrities have pitched in to help.
Actors and idols have donated hundreds of millions of wons to communities affected to augment their supply of medical equipment and protective tools for citizens who can't afford them.There were also celebrity landlords like Lee Hyori who opted to ease the burden of tenants by implementing discounts on rentals.
Lee Hyori is not the only celebrity to waive the entire rent of tenants. Park Eun Hye also decided not to make tenants pay for rent this month.
"The economy is very poor lately because of Covid-19 and it's a difficult time for many reasons, so I'm very grateful that Lee Hyori has waived our whole rent for a month." one of Lee Hyori's tenants said gratefully.
Celebrity couple Rain and Kim Tae Hee, who both own buildings in Cheongdam-dong and Yeoksam-dong near the Gangnam district, also announced that they will be slashing the rent for their properties by 50 percent this month, All Kpop reported.
Another celebrity couple, Won Bin and his wife Lee Na Young, also announced that they will be halving the rental fees of tenants for the months of March and April.
My Love from the Star and Legend of the Blue Sea actress Jun Ji Hyun will also be implementing a 10 percent discount on rent in her property situated in the Gangnam district. This will take effect for two months starting March and April.
Former basketball legend and television star Seo Jang Hoon will do the same for his three buildings in the Mapo-gu district.
Celebrity Hong Seok Cheon will also be lowering the rent in his property in the busy Itaewon district."It isn't a lot during this difficult time but I hope that it helps give people strength. Fighting!" he rallied Koreans on Instagram.
