BTS’s Jungkook and SEVENTEEN Donate 1 Billion Won Each, G-Dragon Contributes 300 Million Won…K-POP Stars and Fans Pile On Fire Relief Donations

K-POP stars are making successive large-scale donations to help recover from the massive forest fire that struck the Yeongnam region. Fans are also joining this wave of positive influence by continuously sharing their donation confirmations. The 13-member group SEVENTEEN drew attention by donating 1 billion won as a team. Since companies such as Naver, Kakao, Hanwha Group, Lotte Group, GS Group, KT, and Dunaamu had already donated 1 billion won each, an idol group’s contribution of this amount received special focus. BTS’s Jungkook then surprised his fans by donating 1 billion won on his own. G-Dragon, who is holding a solo concert for the first time in 8 years, decided to donate 300 million won from the concert proceeds. G-Dragon expressed his hope that “healing hands will reach out to everyone who has lost their homes due to this unexpected disaster.” Singer IU donated 200 million won in total, giving 100 million won each for supporting the fire victims and improving the treatment and recognition of firefighters working at the disaster sites. In addition, IVE donated 200 million won, while BLACKPINK’s Jisoo and NCT’s Jaemin donated 150 million won each. Super Junior’s Eunhyuk, BTS’s RM, J-Hope, and SUGA, BLACKPINK’s Jennie, NCT’s Doyeon, Jaehyun, and Jeno, aespa’s Karina, Park Seo-jin, Byun Woo-seok, Lee Jun-ho, Gong Yoo, Choi Woo-shik, MONSTA X’s Kim Jun-su, and others donated 100 million won each. SHINee’s Key, Red Velvet’s Wendy, NCT’s Jungwoo, Johnny, Haechan, Jisung, and Lin, along with Han Ga-in, donated 50 million won each. Social media platforms were filled with fans sharing their donation confirmations. Comments included “I made a second donation inspired by Jungkook’s positive influence,” “I respect SEVENTEEN’s actions and want to contribute a small amount as well,” “As a Karina fan, I’m happy to join this wave of good influence,” and “I learned about a new charity through Doyeon and decided to donate again.” Some fans also donated under the name of their favorite idols. A 17-year-old fan named Lee wrote the name of a group member on her donation receipt and shared it on social media, explaining that she used this method because she believed other fans would join in. On the other hand, RIIZE donated 150 million won under its fan club name “Breeze,” while Kim Hee-jae’s fan club “Heerangbyeol” donated 50 million won. A representative from Love Tree Foundation said, “Fan clubs are stepping in following the news of the stars’ donations. Ordinary citizens are also highly involved. Through online fundraising via Kakao’s Together With Value and Naver’s Happy Bean, over 360,000 citizens participated, bringing the total raised to over 1.7 billion won.” An official from an entertainment agency remarked, “When hearing about celebrities’ donations, there arises a sense that everyone should contribute, even if it’s a small amount. It seems the positive impact of good influence is especially significant during disasters.”