Eco bits | Borneo Bulletin online

SEOUL (ANN/THE KOREA HERALD) – The South Korean government is working to promote environmentally friendly practices in the production of K-pop albums to allay concerns about the environmental impact of excessive packaging.

South Korea’s Ministry of Environment announced on Sunday that it will cooperate with the Ministry of Culture to provide advisory services to K-pop agencies starting this month.

This initiative involves educating members of the Korea Recording Industry Association on existing regulations restricting excessive packaging.

Currently, these regulations, which limit packaging to a single layer and require the empty space in the packaging to be no more than 50 percent, do not apply to K-pop albums.

South Korea’s Ministry of Environment has acknowledged that there are difficulties in applying these regulations to K-pop albums due to their global sales.

“Since albums are products sold worldwide, it is difficult to apply uniform national packaging regulations to them,” a ministry official said.

Despite this exemption, the ministry tries to encourage voluntary compliance by providing guidance to production companies and providing one-on-one advisory services to local entertainment agencies.

The popularity of the K-pop industry has resulted in annual sales of physical albums exceeding 100 million units, with currently no regulations in place regarding marketing practices that lead to excessive packaging and mass purchasing.

According to the Korea Recording Industry Association, sales of physical albums in the top 400 rose 49 percent last year, reaching about 115.17 million units, up from 77.12 million the previous year.

To increase sales, K-pop agencies often include randomly selected photo cards in elaborate, non-recyclable packaging. These cards can increase fans’ chances of participating in special events, which has prompted many to buy albums in droves.

“Fans are buying albums in bulk due to commercial tactics by entertainment companies that exploit fan loyalty,” said Lee Da-yeon, an activist with Kpop4Planet, an organization that focuses on K-pop’s environmental impact.

Given the heavy dependence of entertainment companies on revenue from album sales, some are advocating for regulatory measures.

Financial statements show that album and digital music sales accounted for 45% of Hybe’s revenue last year, 46% of JYP Entertainment’s revenue and 40% of SM Entertainment’s total revenue in the first quarter of this year.