Rain Donates to Taean Cleanup
Korean top singer and actor Rain participated in volunteer work and donated 300 million won towards the Taean oil spill cleanup.
Rain visited Taean, South Chungcheong Province, to help clean up after one of the worst oil spill disasters with staff from his agency on Wednesday. Despite the freezing weather, Rain worked hard to remove oil from the beach.
After volunteering at the scene, he donated 300 million won for the clean-up efforts in Taean on Thursday.
The singer-actor recently came back to Korea from Los Angeles where he had been shooting his first Hollywood movie ``Speed Racer,'' the latest work of the Wachowski brothers. The volunteer work was his first public appearance this year.
J Tune Entertainment, Rain's management agency, said that Rain originally wanted to keep his volunteer work a secret. However, the number of volunteers coming to Taean is on the decrease and the provincial government asked him to publicize his work to encourage more people to help Taean.
According to the South Chungcheong provincial government, approximately 1.1 million volunteers visited Taean after the country's largest-ever oil spill about a month ago.
Rain recently signed a one-year contract with Samsung Electronics for modeling for Samsung Anycall's advertising campaign for the Beijing Olympics. His Hollywood debut, ``Speed Racer'' will be released in May.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr By Kwon Mee-yoo - Staff Reporter
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Rain Signs for Samsung's Olympic Campaign
Korean pop star and actor Rain signed a one-year contract with Samsung Electronics, the official sponsor for wireless communications at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Yonhap News quoted Rain's management agency J Tune Entertainment as saying Rain will be the model for Samsung Anycall's advertising campaign for the Beijing Olympics. He will also sing Samsung Anycall's Olympic commercial theme song, as well as appear in billboards and posters.
Rain is one of the most popular Korean stars in China, because of his roles in TV dramas such as ``Full House.'' He has appeared in advertisements for Pepsi, DHC cosmetics and Chinese confectionary brand Fuma. He also appears in the highly anticipated Hollywood film ``Speed Racer'' this year.
Rain was earlier rumored to have been asked to perform official song for the Olympics ― but this turned out to be false. He has clarified that a Chinese agency asked him to record a ``candidate song'' that will be submitted for consideration by the Olympic committee.
Samsung Anycall is known for hiring top Korean stars for its high-profile advertising campaigns. Last year, Samsung Anycall's campaign ``Talk, Play, Love'' featured Korean pop singer BoA, Epik High rapper Tablo, TVXQ member Xiah and jazz pianist Jin Bora.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr By Cathy Rose A. Garcia - Staff Reporter