Why do K-pop fans in Philippines, Thailand lavish gifts on their South Korean idols, whether they can afford to or not?
- Fans of Crash Landing on You’s Hyun Bin have sent him a food truck, personalised beer and camouflage shoes; BTS member Jungkook got a gold bar, while EXO’s Sehun got a full-page ad in The New York Times
- While some fans want to ‘buy the love’ of their idols, others – including some married ones – are trying to escape the stress of work or loneliness of the pandemic. For those short of cash, anonymous donations can be arranged
Mafae Ragua remembers March 15 of last year well. It was the day she and a few like-minded souls created a fan club called Edelweiss Philippines for the South Korean actor Hyun Bin.
“We were planning our first gift event for Hyun Bin, so one of our members volunteered to go outside to buy supplies during the community quarantine period,” said Ragua, 30. “She was a mother of four children, but she thought our gift project was important enough to take the risk of going out in public without a permit.”
Although there are more than 100 members in the fan club, only about half are active in participating in events and sending gifts to Hyun Bin.
This March, Ragua spent over 5,000 Philippine pesos (US$104) to send a food truck to Hyun Bin’s film set as part of a joint project with other regional fan clubs. The cost was significant for Ragua, who as a technical writer for an IT company can earn up to US$1,250 per month.
Hyun Bin is used to such gifts. The previous March, another club, the Hyun Bin Fan Team of Indonesia, also sent a food truck to his film set, providing meals for 150 people. Debby Yulianti, 34, an event planner from Depok, Indonesia, who lives in South Korea, was one of 33 ‘donors’ from the club who contributed to the truck fund. She said the total cost was 3.2 million won (US$2,850).
And in September other fan clubs in the Philippines partnered with a local brewery to create a “Hyun Bin beer” to commemorate his birthday. The beer cans were customised with silhouettes of the actor. Along with the beer, the clubs sent Hyun Bin a pair of camouflage shoes as a nod to his role as a soldier in Crash Landing on You. Another club, Hyun Bin One Philippines, sent the actor an embroidered long-sleeve shirt known as a barong Tagalog, the national dress of Filipino men, also on his birthday.