K-pop climate activist selected as one of BBC’s 100 Women 2023

“I’d like to build an awareness that we can get closer to climate justice with a growing number of K-pop fans supporting climate activism.”

Lee Da-yeon, a South Korean climate activist selected by BBC as one of the 100 Women 2023, said during an interview with The Dong-A Ilbo on Wednesday that the recognition was not just her achievement but that of all K-pop fans. She meant to show the world that K-pop fans are much more than those who love the music genre.

Lee is the only South Korean who made the BBC list announced on Tuesday (local time).

The 21-year-old set up a joint climate activism platform called Kpop4planet in 2021 to engage K-pop fans in activities to address the climate crisis. “The group has highlighted the environmental implications of physical album waste, which prompted iconic figures in K-pop to pivot to digital albums,” BBC said on the reason for selecting her as one of the most influential women of the year.

Lee, a K-pop fan since elementary school, became interested in climate as she read newspaper articles in high school. “As an individual who will directly experience the future of the Earth, I saw the significance of climate change,” she said. After Lee joined Youth 4 Climate Action, a climate activist group led by teenagers, she met Nurul Sarifah, a K-pop fan and climate activist from Indonesia. Lee and Sarifah considered how they could act on their love for K-pop and climate action, which led to Kpop4planet.

The group raised the waste issue created by physical albums, saying there would be no K-pop on the dead Earth. “We delivered such a message to entertainment companies, which led to JYP joining RE100, which refers to the goal of the use renewable resources for all energy, for the first time in the industry and Hybe launching digital platform-based albums,” Lee explained.


71wook@donga.com