For decades, fans have often had the habit of expressing gratitude to the celebrities they love by giving gifts when they have the opportunity to meet their idols.
This habit has also become popular in the Kpop community. Kpop fans often give their idols a variety of items, from food to luxury items worth millions of won.
However, many idols are currently protesting this and refusing to accept gifts from fans, in addition to small items such as handwritten letters.
According to My Daily, a recent viral video has revealed the truth that G-Dragon (Big Bang) was the first Kpop idol to start this trend, since 2011.
In a handwritten letter posted on his social media account in August 2011, G-Dragon said: "I want to be careful and ask you all one thing. This time I will not accept any gifts on my birthday. The warm hearts of fans are enough, so celebrate and send your love to me.
I hope that from now on, instead of receiving gifts, this will be a special day for us to create meaningful memories together, and say goodbye happily.
After that, G-Dragon's fans chose to donate instead of giving gifts to the male idol. In the end, they donated 8.18 million won (about 144 million VND) to charity, the same number as G-Dragon's birthday on August 18.
When G-Dragon learned about this, he took a sincere action by adding 0s to the amount and personally donated 81.8 million won (about 1.4 billion VND). He eventually founded his own charitable organization, Jus peace, to fight drug addiction.
In the following years, Kpop idols' refusal to give gifts from fans became a popular trend. Girl group GFRIends stated, "We have decided not to accept gifts except handwritten letters and small items."
Many artists of HYBE Group such as BTS, Seventeen, NU'EST have also made similar statements, saying that they will not accept any gifts from fans other than handwritten letters. In addition, IU, EXO, Taemin, NCT, Kang Daniel also have similar decisions.
Not only idol world, famous actors also participate in this trend. Yoo Jae Suk made a personal announcement to fans: "Just one support message is enough, so instead of giving gifts as a way to support me, I just want to ask for sincere letters from all of you."
Actress Kim Hee Ae also stated, "Every birthday, I am grateful for the overflowing love and wishes that fans send me. Instead of gifts and flowers, I will only accept your heart. I will repay your love with better acting and working harder."
