"No One Is Looking for Kim Ho-jung..." Fans' One-Sided Album Donations Leave Him 'Embarrassed'

Album donations, where fans purchase large quantities of their favorite singer's albums and then donate them to welfare institutions, have come under scrutiny.

On the 8th, Yonhap News reported remarks from a representative of a disability organization expressing discomfort over an album donation made by fans of Kim Ho-joong, who was sent to the prosecution in custody on charges of drunk hit-and-run.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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When asked about the recent status of 'album donations,' a representative from a disability organization in Busan said, "Many albums of singer Kim Ho-joong have been received, but since the drunk hit-and-run incident, no one has requested them, so they remain unused. We are in a difficult position because we cannot dispose of them carelessly."

Some have pointed out that purchasing large quantities of albums to boost first-week sales records of their favorite singer, increase chances of attending fan sign events, or collect various photocards, and then sending these albums to other institutions under the guise of 'donation' might be a way to mask self-serving behavior as a benevolent act.

This controversy over album donations resurfaced after Kim Ho-joong was sent to the prosecution in custody on drunk hit-and-run charges. Some fans defended him by citing nearly 10 billion KRW in donations made thanks to his positive influence, but suspicions arose that about 7.5 billion KRW of this amount was actually the estimated value of donated albums.

Albums displayed in a record store (This photo is not directly related to the article.)
Photo by Yonhap News

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In fact, on social networking services (SNS) and internet cafes, it is still easy to find posts guiding joint purchases for album donations of specific singers or certifying participation in such activities. Recently, a trend has developed where fans identify the needs of institutions in advance and collect only the necessary quantities before delivering them.

For example, a welfare center in Daegu recently reported that albums of singer Lee Chan-won donated to them quickly ran out. A representative of the welfare center told Yonhap News, "In the case of enthusiasts, they like CDs and request donated albums, which is a positive aspect," adding, "We also coordinate quantities in advance, and the awareness level of fans has improved, so it is rare for them to send unnecessary amounts."

On the other hand, some places complain of 'difficulty in disposal' due to unilateral donations without demand surveys. A representative of a child support foundation in Seoul said, "For a while, we received many album donations, but since children have likes and dislikes, leftover albums were hard to dispose of," and added, "We could not resell the donated albums, so they piled up in storage, and recently we had to discard several hundred copies."

Even though album donations are well-intentioned, there are criticisms that purchasing more albums than necessary harms the environment.

According to data from the Ministry of Environment, the amount of plastic used by domestic agencies for album production surged from 55.8 tons in 2017 to 801.5 tons in 2022. This is an increase of more than 14 times in five years. This plastic is subject to waste disposal fees.

According to the music sales tracking site Circle Chart, the cumulative album sales for the top 400 from January to December last year were about 120 million copies, an increase of about 50% compared to the previous year (about 80 million copies).

Singer Kim Ho-jung, who is accused of 'hit-and-run while driving under the influence,' is seen leaving the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, heading to a transport vehicle after completing the pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review) on the afternoon of the 24th of last month.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

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Meanwhile, Kim Ho-joong's detention period has been extended by ten days. The detention periods of Lee Kwang-deuk, CEO of Saenggak Entertainment, and a former head of a department, who were detained together with Kim, were also extended.

Earlier, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office applied on the 7th to extend Kim's detention period on charges including dangerous driving causing injury under the Special Act, and drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act, and the court accepted this application. The detention period can be extended by up to ten days during the prosecution investigation stage, changing Kim's detention expiration date from the 9th to the 19th.

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