K-Pop Gives Back
With all of the love that K-pop artists receive from fans around the world, they try to give the same amount of love back. Not only just to the fans, but to their community as well. Here are some examples of how the K-pop community has taken this positivity and given it back to those in need:
Many artists such as BIGBANG, EXO, BTS, NCT Dream’s Jaemin, and Girls’ Generation’s Seohyun and Yoona have collaborated with UNICEF in order to raise funds to protect children, defend their rights, and set them up for success in the future. Super Junior’s Siwon is very active in his activities as a special ambassador of UNICEF Korea. He often posts about his trips around the world on Instagram, showing fans what he sees and encouraging them to help those in need.
SHINee’s Minho once said that “celebrities and fans are like two sides of a mirror. I am a reflection of my fans are like and the fans are a reflection of what I am like”. By giving back to the community, K-pop artists are teaching their fans how to be kind and selfless. Fans, in turn, try to be the best reflection they can be. Like Super Junior’s Siwon, ELFs (SuJu’s fandom) showed the world just how genuinely kind and generous they can be. In celebration of Super Junior’s 11th anniversary, ELFs donated 110kg of rice and 1,106 packages of ramen to the Salvation Army.
▶ #SHINHWA #신화
— 엘리 (@shinhwarm) March 27, 2018
신화, 쌀 15.86톤 기부...더 뜻깊은 데뷔 20주년 선행
Shinhwa, donates 15.86 tonnes of rice... Meaningful good deed for the 20th debut anniversaryhttps://t.co/2nKEwgI0gT pic.twitter.com/41FJBxGNQ4
ELF isn’t the only fandom that has donated food in the name of their artists. Shinhwa’s fans are thought to be the very first ones to create a food donation project. In August of 2007, Shinhwa fans donated rice wreaths to support Shin Hye Sung’s solo concert. When Shinhwa held a fan party in 2019, the Dreame Rice Wreath Company had recorded that 15,860kg of rice, 4,640 ramyeon packages, 160 coal briquettes, 60kg of feed, a silver food kit for 30 days, and 330 rice noodle packets have been donated by Shinhwa’s fan clubs around the world.
Coal briquette delivery in Korea is popular in the Winter as these are mainly used for cooking and heating households. For the past five winters, f(x)’s Amber has been delivering coal briquettes to low-income neighborhoods. Other artists such as TVXQ’s Max, Super Junior D&E, Red Velvet, and NUEST W’s Ren, SEVENTEEN, and BUMZU have also participated in briquette delivery. Despite working in freezing temperatures, the K-pop artists are bundled up, filled with joy and humility.
K-pop is more than just music. It’s spreading kindness and striving to be the best version of yourself. Just like how artists receive endless amounts of love from fans, they try to show the same to others in their community and around the world.
Did we miss any heartwarming stories about what K-pop artists or fandoms have done for those around them? Let us know in the comments!
Cover Image: Choi Siwon of Super Junior (SM Entertainment)
Written by Sarah Wong
