Roy Kim Pays it Forward with “Superstar K4” Prize Money

Singer Roy Kim will donate 30 million KRW (~28,000 USD) of his “Superstar K4” winnings as prize money for the Yoo Jae-ha Music Concours.

The 24th Yoo Jae-ha Music Concours will be held at Baeknam Music Concert Hall, at Hanyang University’s Seoul campus, on November 24. Roy Kim will be donating 30 million KRW of his prize money from last year’s Mnet “Superstar K4.” The Yoo Jae-ha scholarship committee stated, “Roy Kim’s donation has been of tremendous assistance to us. It’s the first time we have received a contribution from a private donor, and whether the sum is big or small, putting up his own prize money has meaning in itself. His thoughts and deeds are admirable and we are grateful for his action.”

Roy Kim’s side has expressed, “He has also wanted to donate, so when he heard about the Yoo Jae-ha Music Festival, he readily made the donation.”

With this contribution, Roy Kim has now fulfilled the promise he made after winning “Superstar K4” to donate all of his prize money. After receiving his prize money, he has put the money back into causes such as “10000 Won Miracle,” musical instrument sponsorship for multicultural families, Compassion Korea, Good Neighbors, Korean Center for Pediatric Cancer, Animal Cruelty Prevention Association, The Purme Foundation, Korea Music Development Corporation Aggregate, support for veteran singers, Yeomyung School and Love Sharing for Abandoned Animals. While some of the prize money went to album production costs, the amount he has donated has apparently already exceeded his prize money, and he is now taking it out of his own pocket.

Roy Kim left for America in August, and in the fanmeeting he held before leaving, he stated, “I don’t want to talk about my donations, but because there are people who will misunderstand, I’ve decided to reveal the details. After agonizing over who to donate to, I decided that to give it out a little bit at a time. From the beginning of this year, I began donating to good causes.” He has also put the proceeds from his first fanmeeting in August 2012, approximately 20 million KRW (~19,000 USD) into other organizations.

Roy Kim received a lot of love for his song “Spring Spring Spring,” released in Spring this year and returned to his studies in America at Georgetown University in August. Since it is the middle of the school term, he was not able to attend the “2013 Melon Music Awards” on November 14. Roy Kim is not signed to any label at the moment, and will be looking into the matter when he returns to Korea after his semester ends.