K-POP Fans Driving Social Change Through Giving and Environmental Advocacy

K-POP fans are actively engaging in community service across various fields such as donations, environmental activism, and overseas volunteering. On January 16, MBC Plus’ K-POP fan community platform “Idol Champ” announced that it had donated 10 million won to Good Neighbors. This donation was raised through the “Star Sharing” program operated by fan communities of 22 idol groups, including those of Kang Daniel, Stray Kids, (G)I-DLE, Ha Sungwoon, ENHYPEN, and Baekhyun. Good Neighbors plans to use this funds to provide menstrual care kits to 100 girls from families in crisis across South Korea, as well as deliver meal kits and groceries to 100 children at risk of going hungry during holidays. Students from Kyung Sang National University also participated in international volunteer efforts rooted in K-POP culture. Forty students and eight faculty members took part in the “2024 National University Development Project GNU GP-Overseas Volunteer” program, which was held in Manila, Philippines, from the 6th to the 17th. The volunteer team taught Korean, taekwondo, and K-POP dances at two local elementary schools in Manila and promoted Korean culture through performances of various cultural acts such as samlleulnori, taekwondo, fan dance, K-POP dancing, and cheerleading. They also increased local students’ satisfaction by painting murals and doing body painting. K-POP fans’ environmental efforts are equally notable. The climate action platform “KPOP4Planet,” established in 2021, launched the “Save the Butter Beach” campaign in December 2021 to protect Mangbang Beach in Samcheok, Gangwon Province, from coal-fired power plant construction. Mangbang Beach is the location that served as the backdrop for BTS’s 2021 album “Butter” and holds high environmental value. Fans conducted ocean cleanup activities by visiting the beach in person alongside online signature drives. The “Fandom 4 Forest” campaign, which began in August 2022, is a project to plant trees using celebrity names to create forests. To date, this forest has helped reduce carbon emissions by 28,456 tons. Among the participating fan communities, BTS’s fanbase ARMY ranks first, having planted a total of 44,508 trees. Recently, K-POP fans have directly addressed the issue of plastic waste in the entertainment industry. At the “2024 Sustainable K-POP Awards” held in front of HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on January 16, results from votes cast by 14,000 fans were announced. HYBE received the top score of 5,071 votes in the “Environmental Pollution Stop Award,” labeled as the company generating the most plastic waste during album marketing. YG came in second with 2,442 votes, followed by SM with 1,789 votes and JYP with 738 votes. HYBE has been criticized for seeing its plastic waste emissions increase by approximately 12 times over the five-year period from 2019 to 2023. KPOP4Planet is currently running an online signature campaign titled “The Sin of Plastic Albums,” urging entertainment companies to “stop marketing that encourages duplicate purchases” and to “disclose greenhouse gas emissions related to albums along with their reduction plans.” K-POP fans’ community service activities are driving changes within the industry, and it is expected that efforts to create sustainable social value will continue in the future.