SEOUL (ANN/THE KOREA HERALD) – The South Korean government is working to promote eco-friendly practices in K-pop album production to address concerns about the environmental impact of excessive packaging.
The South Korean Ministry of Environment announced on Sunday that, starting this month, it will collaborate with the Ministry of Culture to offer consulting services to K-pop agencies.
This initiative includes educating members of the Recording Industry Association of Korea on existing regulations that limit excessive packaging.
Currently, these regulations, which restrict packaging to a single layer and require that empty space within a package does not exceed 50 per cent, do not apply to K-pop albums.
The South Korean Ministry of Environment acknowledged the difficulties in applying these regulations to K-pop albums due to their global sales.
“Since albums are products sold worldwide, it’s difficult to uniformly apply domestic packaging regulations on them,” a ministry official stated.
Despite this exemption, the ministry aims to encourage voluntary compliance by guiding production companies and providing individual consulting services to local entertainment agencies.
The K-pop industry’s popularity has pushed annual physical album sales beyond 100 million units, with no regulations currently addressing marketing practices that lead to excessive packaging and bulk purchases.
According to the Recording Industry Association of Korea, physical album sales on their top 400 chart increased by 49 percent last year, reaching about 115.17 million units compared to 77.12 million the previous year.
To drive sales, K-pop agencies often include randomly selected photo cards in elaborate, non-recyclable packaging. These cards can increase fans’ chances of attending special events, leading many to buy albums in bulk.
“Fans buy albums in bulk due to commercial tactics of entertainment companies exploiting fan loyalty,” said Lee Da-yeon, an activist with Kpop4Planet, an organisation focused on K-pop’s environmental impact.
Given the entertainment companies’ heavy reliance on album sales revenue, some advocate for regulatory measures.
Financial statements show that album and digital music sales accounted for 45 per cent of Hybe’s revenue last year, 46 per cent of JYP Entertainment’s revenue, and 40 per cent of SM Entertainment’s total revenue in the first quarter of this year.
