Ador donates NewJeans' university festival earnings to scholarship fund

K-pop girl group NewJeans / Courtesy of Ador

Ador, the agency for NewJeans, has donated the entire earnings from the girl group's university festival performances to the Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF).

Ador, a sublabel of HYBE, announced the donation, saying, "We received a lot of strength and love from performing at seven university festivals over the past week. We wanted to give back the love we received to university students in need."

The donation will be used to support living and housing expenses for low-income college students.

Starting on May 25 at Korea University, NewJeans performed at seven university festivals, including Chosun, Busan, Sejong and Chung-Ang universities.

At Chosun University, the news of NewJeans' appearance led to an extraordinary scene where students and citizens lined up around the grand stadium from the early morning.

They performed new songs like "How Sweet" and "Bubblegum," as well as popular tracks such as "Hype Boy," with the audience enthusiastically singing along to every song.

Visitors line up to enter the concert venue at the Chosun University festival in Gwangju, May 28. Yonhap

More than just performances for money

Previously, on May 31, Ador CEO Min Hee-jin addressed concerns during a press conference regarding NewJeans' participation in university festivals.

"Some people misunderstand, thinking we are making the members perform just for money or to make them go through the grind for profit. I didn't want to be misunderstood in that way," she said. "The performances help the members improve their skills and promote new songs, and to show our sincerity, we decided to donate the earnings."

Min also added, "There are many fans in different regions who want to see NewJeans, but we are not yet in a position to hold concerts. The festivals were the only way we could reach out to them, so it also served as fan service."

The KOSAF, which received the donation, expressed their gratitude.

"We thank Ador and NewJeans for their commitment to supporting economically disadvantaged university students. We will do our utmost to help these students continue their studies in a stable environment.," it said. "We hope that the scholarship recipients will carry forward the spirit of giving and become contributing members of society who practice the virtuous cycle of sharing."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.