Idol actor Siwan and BTOB's Changsub support Ukraine amid war with Russia
By now, older K-pop fans know that agencies control their artists on what topics they can address. Even regarding the Black Lives Movement in 2020, idols started to donate and speak up once the general public of South Korea started supporting it. Fame in the K-pop industry is very fickle and the general public immediately turns their backs on idols if they do anything that Knetizens don’t agree on. This is why not many have spoken up on the Ukraine and Russia war yet.
Actress Lee Young-ae was the first Korean celebrity to publicly donate $83K to Ukraine and voiced her support to the country. Following her, Red Velvet’s Yeri and ex-F.T. Island star Song Seunghyun shared social media posts vouching for peace and supporting Ukraine. U-KISS took a bold step as they became the first K-pop group to donate to Ukraine. Well, now idol actor Siwan has become the next Korean celebrity to donate to Ukraine amidst the Russian war while BTOB’s Changsub has publicly given his support.
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Siwan financially supports Ukraine
On March 4, it was announced that Siwan of ‘Run On’ fame and from the K-pop group ZE:A had done his bit to help those residing in Ukraine. Turns out, the actor has participated in the ‘No Show’ trend that has been going on where users book Airbnbs in Ukraine that allows residents to make use of them in any way they may need. The Airbnbs also use the money to financially aid residents. Siwan’s kind gesture was appreciated by Ukrainian fans who thanked him for thinking about their welfare.
Siwan has booked a two-bedroom Airbnb in Kyiv, Ukraine from March 7 to April 4 and left a message to the hotel saying, “Hello, I just booked your hotel for a month and of course im not gonna be visiting. hope you and the people in Kiev to be safe.” Additionally, he has also donated 20 million won (~$16.4K) to South Korea’s Ukrainian embassy to aid those in need. Along with him, BTOB’s Changsub decided to show his support in the best way he knew it would be heard.
BTOB's Changsub and Minhyuk speak up
The K-pop idol was performing with his group on Mnet’s 'M Countdown', a music show that is broadcast nationwide with tons of households in South Korea tuning in to watch. At the end of BTOB’s performance of ‘The Song’, Changsub says “No war.” After the performance, we even had Minhyuk talking about Changsub’s words and saying, “My heart is heavy. Even at this time, there are so many other citizens and casualties. I hope that peace will come soon.”
ramdi talking about today changsub’s phrase "no war" 😢 pic.twitter.com/cwDPRJBZLP
— 🤍͏ ͏ (@safeforhuta) March 3, 2022
Watch BTOB’s performance below.
