Hana Bank kicked off on Monday a fundraising event to help out children in impoverished Asian nations by collecting used cell phones.

Hana accumulates 1,000 won every time someone donates a used cell phone to the bank. It plans to raise more funds by selling rare metals found in the phones.

The raised fund will be used to support children and schools in Asian countries including Vietnam, Myanmar and Mongolia.

“It can also support the low-income class as new jobs are created in the process of disassembling the phones and extracting the metals,” said officials at Hana Bank through a statement.

The bank will be donating about 2,500 won per phone taking into account the cost for refining the metals. Any one can participate in the event, which runs until Wednesday.

KT, the nation’s second-largest telecom carrier, also began a campaign using old cell phones with the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

It receives donations of used cell phones and delivers used but still high-tech smartphones to Seoul City.

The exchanged phones are to be distributed to child breadwinners and those who receive a substantial government subsidy for living expenses.

The campaign runs through Dec. 31.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)