Why do K-pop fans in Philippines, Thailand lavish gifts on their South Korean idols, whether they can afford to or not?

Mafae Ragua remembers March 15 of last year well. It was the day she and a few like-minded souls created a fan club 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."

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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.

Yet another club, Hyun Bin Forever Thailand, was created after Crash Landing on You became a household hit across Southeast Asia. Started in March last year by Ning Kumaree and her sister, the club already has more than 48,000 followers on Facebook.

Fan clubs celebrating Korean pop culture became popular at the turn of the 21st century, when Korean dramas and K-pop first found a market overseas. Some of the first fan clubs grew up around the first generation of K-pop boy bands such as H. O. T and Sechskies in the late 1990s.

In addition to buying albums, making their favourite stars trend on Twitter and translating Korean television programmes that their idols appear in, club members also send letters and gifts to the stars themselves.

For this reason, Kumaree, a 40-year-old who owns a digital communications company in Bangkok, makes the donation list for gifts anonymous so that younger members and others who are strapped for cash, do not feel pressure to give more than they can afford.

For Kumaree, Hyun Bin's birthday is one of the biggest days of the year. She personally spent about 10,000 Thai baht (US$320) to send flowers, a birthday cake and handmade photo albums to the actor. She spent a further 5,000 baht on birthday presents for Son Ye-jin, who revealed she was dating co-star Hyun Bin after Crash Landing on You came to a close last year.

"The couple inspires my life and so many others' lives here in Thailand," said Kumaree. "My husband and child did not understand my support of Hyun Bin in the beginning, but they started to see that the actor gave me a place to escape from the stress of work. Many others are lonely during the pandemic, and Hyun Bin is a light for them." 

Kwak Keumjoo, a professor of psychology at Seoul National University, has been observing K-pop fans for years, with a particular focus on adolescents and housewives. She said the collectivist culture in South Korea had accelerated the formation of massive fan clubs attached to K-pop groups and Korean actors.

"Being a fan can be a good hobby just like any other hobby but, sometimes, fandoms can become too extreme when competition with other fandoms becomes a major factor in raising money for gifts or events," she said. "And such competition also leads to speaking bad about other stars and fan clubs."

A minority of fans sent gifts in an attempt to "buy the love of their idols", Kwak said.

Hyun Bin thanked Kumaree's fan club for his birthday package last year, while Son Ye-jin "liked" one of the group's posts on Instagram this year. 

However, communication between stars and their fans has caused controversy in the past. 

In 2016, Kang Min-hyuk of the K-pop band CNBlue was criticised for posting a photo of a luxury watch on social media with the comment "it's been a while since I've wanted something this bad".

Netizens accused Kang of "begging" his fans for the watch. And in 2013, fans sent a baseball jacket to Danny Ahn of 2000s boy band g.o.d after he posted a photo of it on social media with the caption "I wish I could have it."

As for costly gifts, fans of the boy group Super Junior spent a reported US$100,000 on the group's albums to help them win the top prize at the Golden Disc Awards in 2011. One fan sent a gold bar to BTS member Jungkook for his birthday in 2017 while a group of fans splashed out on a full-page ad in The New York Times for EXO member Sehun's birthday in 2018. According to The New York Times media kit, such ads can cost upwards of US$100,000. 

Some of the most expensive gifts have been linked to Chinese fan groups organised through forums on the social media site Baidu Tieba. Fan clubs with more modest budgets often set up bank accounts to which members can donate anonymously.

Many Korean celebrities are uncomfortable with receiving such gifts, with some like EXO's Chen and former Wanna One member Kang Daniel asking their fans to donate to charity instead.

The website of VAST Entertainment, the agency that manages Hyun Bin, has a page that directs fans who want to send letters or gifts to a storage centre that the agency has allocated specially for gifts. The agency declined to comment when approached by This Week in Asia.

Meanwhile, as Ragua, the fan from the Philippines, points out, it's not all about the money.

"We know that Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin don't need our help to buy luxury items, so we decided to send them gifts that are local," Ragua said. "We have also started projects to support schools in poor neighbourhoods by donating money, school supplies and our time." 

HyunBin Forever Thailand has also begun to donate to local schools.

"The happiness that I receive from seeing Hyun Bin in dramas and movies inspires me to spread love around me," Kumaree said. "I want as many people as possible in Thailand to know about this wonderful actor in South Korea."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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