Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na donated 50 million won ($48,000) to five children suffering from hard-to-cure diseases through the Korean Committee for UNICEF on Tuesday.

It is her third donation made through the committee as an international goodwill ambassador of UNICEF.

The 23-year-old sponsored five girls in 2010 and five more girls in 2012.

This time, at Kim’s request, the Korean Committee for UNICEF recommended five child patients residing in Busan, and she donated 10 million won to each child.

A tight training schedule for the world championships in March prevented her from visiting the children. Staff workers of All That Sports, her agency, visited them on her behalf and gave them Kim Yu-na figurines as gifts.

“I am sorry I can’t go and see the children in person because I am in training. I hope my donation will encourage them to fight their diseases,” she said through the agency. “I will continue to help children in need.”

In January 2010, Kim gave 100 million won in emergency relief aid to children in quake-hit areas of Haiti. In May 2011, she donated through the Korean Committee for UNICEF the prize money she received as the runner-up in the world championships to child victims of the March tsunami and earthquake in Japan.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)