Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Towards the end of June, Taeyeon fans from Korea and China started sending protest trucks to the SM Entertainment building. The reason for it was basically mismanagement, especially regarding of the choice of venue for her concert tour, and this happened after Taeyeon herself seemed to criticize the size of the venue chosen by her company. Later she unfollowed the official SME account for Taeyeon, appearing to further express her displeasure with the way things were being run.
As for SME, they seemed to have had enough of the protest trucks, and at one point called the cops on them. They promptly got told that the protest wasn’t doing anything illegal, and so things resumed.
SM Entertainment lodged a civil complaint with the police, stating that the loud noise from the trucks was disrupting their business.
The truck management company, which is also representing Taeyeon’s fans, cooperated with the police and assured them that the protest was not for any political reason and that it would continue according to civil laws, from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays until the label issues an official apology. One of the fan organizers updated others through Twitter that because of the dispatched police cars, the trucks couldn’t operate smoothly on June 23. Since large-scale protests legally require the approval of Seoul District Police, the organizers moved quickly and obtained a legal permit to park the trucks in front of the SM Entertainment building. The protest, hence, will resume as planned.
Having fandoms mad at you is one thing, but having your own artist leading them and then letting fans know you’re pressed enough to call the cops about it is another. Clearly it was an issue at least worth addressing.
So SME recently did exactly that, addressing it, technically at least. Basically they dropped a long-winded lawyer-y way of saying “okay we see you, we hear you, we love you … now please stop sending the fucking trucks”.
Hello, this is SM Entertainment.
We thank the many fans who have always eagerly anticipated Taeyeon’s new music and promotions.
We have recently become aware of the many opinions fans have sent us, and we would like to address them here.
He will work harder to reflect the opinions of our fans in Taeyeon’s future promotions, including her concert.
We thank the fans once again for their concerns and opinions and promise to support Taeyeon’s music and future promotions.
We will continue to do our best to facilitate our artists’ growth and will repay the support fans have given us.
Thank you.
So yeah, basically nothing of substance, just saying they acknowledge it and to please stop making the protest truck industry one of the most lucrative businesses in South Korea.
