Singer Hwang Young-woong, who returned after being reflective due to a past injury, became embroiled in controversy after receiving cash donations amounting to hundreds of millions of won.
On the 18th, during the broadcast of SBS's 'Curious Story Y', Hwang Young-woong's fans stated, "We collectively purchased the album that Hwang Young-woong released after his reflection. We wanted to make him number one. Our goal was 1 million copies. With the mindset of catching up to the person known as 'Ing Young-woong,'" referring to the album 'Autumn, Nostalgia' that Hwang Young-woong announced in October 2023.
In fact, at that time, Hwang Young-woong's fans raised over 1.5 billion won in just four days of collective purchasing, and within a month, they accumulated 6.1 billion won. There were fans who took out loans to buy the album. Thanks to this, Hwang Young-woong's first-week sales exceeded 500,000 copies, and he successfully returned after overcoming past controversies.
However, currently, the fans' sentiments are tumultuous. Some fans claim, "A single person received all the money and made the collective purchase. Looking at the bank transaction records, amounts of 1 million won were withdrawn starting from August 29, 2023," stating that cash was withdrawn from ATMs up to six times a day. A total of 120 million won was withdrawn over 22 days.
In response, the former central treasurer who managed the bank account and received the donations explained, "I delivered it to the singer. Each region has its own bank account, and I handed over the collected donations in cash." It signifies that, during Hwang Young-woong's period of reflection, some of the funds for the collective album purchase were withdrawn and delivered in cash according to the wishes of some fans.
Regarding this matter, the agency explained, "We wanted to give 15 million won in donations for each region, so a central staff member, who was a treasurer, withdrew the funds and delivered them directly in cash to the singer's waiting room. The singer received it. Fans in the trot genre tend to make many cash donations. Any reporting obligations have been fulfilled regarding the gift tax."
However, many people related to the trot genre have drawn the line, stating that the culture of cash donations from fans does not exist or is blocked.
Meanwhile, Hwang Young-woong emerged as a strong candidate for victory in the 2023 'Burning Trotman.' However, he became embroiled in controversy as allegations of past violence by an ex-girlfriend and a military colleague surfaced since his school days. Additionally, the revelation of Hwang Young-woong's past injury became controversial, leading to his eventual withdrawal from the program.
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