FTISLAND's HONG-KI wins ”Public Relations Ambassador of the Year Award” for Hidradenitis Suppurativa Campaign after revealing rare disease surgery

Lee Hong-ki (FTISLAND), who confessed to having purulent Korean bronchitis, was awarded the "Public Relations Ambassador of the Year Award." The Korean branch of a global healthcare company announced on the 22nd that it will be holding a press conference at the Sofitel
It was announced that singer Lee Hong-ki won the "Public Relations Ambassador of the Year Award" at the 32nd Korea PR Awards held at ambassadorSeoul.
The Korea PR Awards is a representative award in the Korean PR field that is given to Korean PR professionals every year by the Korea PR Association, who seek out examples of excellent PR activities and promote the value of PR and the expansion of the PR industry.
The PR ambassador award was established in 2007 and is now in its 32nd year. The award is given to the person who has done the best PR work as a PR ambassador in the field of Korean PR for the past year. HONG-KI, who is a patient of hidradenitis suppurativa,
She was selected as this year's recipient in recognition of her contributions to correcting misunderstandings about the disease and raising social awareness through her participation in a campaign to raise awareness of hidradenitis suppurativa.
HONG-KI's "Shine a Light on Hidradenitis Suppurativa"
The "Health and Safety Campaign" aims to promote awareness among people who have symptoms but are not receiving proper diagnosis and treatment.
The project aims to inform patients who are not yet diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa of the importance of a diagnosis by a dermatologist, and to convey a message of support and hope to patients who are experiencing physical and emotional difficulties due to the symptoms and social stigma of hidradenitis suppurativa.
In the campaign video, HONG-KI reveals the various hardships and difficulties he has experienced over the past 18 years due to a disease he once thought was just a boil called hidradenitis suppurativa.
He urged patients who, like himself, have been neglecting their condition without receiving a proper diagnosis to muster up the courage to get an accurate diagnosis and treatment before it is too late.
The video containing HONG-KI's honest confession and condolences was uploaded to the company's official YouTube account "Bringing light to hidradenitis suppurativa" in December last year.
After being posted on the site "Shine a light on HS" under the title "Find the name of my boil," the cumulative number of views exceeded 1 million in about a month.
The campaign has attracted a lot of interest and sympathy from the general public and patients. HONG-KI has also voluntarily introduced the campaign in his solo activities on variety shows and radio shows, making him a leading figure in proactively raising awareness of the disease.
HONG-KI said, "As a patient suffering from hidradenitis suppurativa, I participated in this campaign to convey courage and hope to other patients who have experienced the same pain as me, but I am so grateful that this campaign has been so meaningful and valuable.
"I'm very happy that this award has come back as a special prize," he said, "I hope that this campaign will raise social awareness of the disease, and that it will help patients with hidradenitis suppurativa who are lost in the dark."
"I hope that everyone will receive an accurate diagnosis and ongoing treatment, and that this will be an opportunity for them to return to their daily lives as soon as possible. I will continue to work hard to share courage and hope with many people," he said in response to receiving the award.
CEO Yoo Byung-jae said, "Although it was not an easy task, Lee Hong participated as a PR ambassador for the campaign with the intention of helping patients.
I would like to thank Lee Hong-ki once again. I think it was because of Lee Hong-ki's sincere confession and message of support that so many people were touched and that we were able to receive such a great award."
After reading the postscript of a patient who visited the hospital after watching the campaign video, was diagnosed with an illness, and decided to start treatment, I felt that our campaign had given hope to many people.
"I was deeply impressed by this fact. I will continue to make efforts so that many patients in Korea can receive correct diagnoses and treatment to improve their quality of life."