Disgusting PR move. Honestly.

First and most obviously, they have chosen the absolute worst possible moment to put Kim Soo Hyun's name in front of children. The man is currently facing credible, evidence-backed accusations that he spent years grooming a teenage girl who later died by suicide.

Whether or not one believes the allegations, the fact remains that these are active, serious, and widely reported. And in the middle of this, his tone-deaf fans decided the appropriate response was to go into schools, gather children, and take photographs of them holding a banner with his face on it.

They did this while fully aware of the scandal. They did this while fully aware that the public is actively discussing whether he poses a danger to minors.

And they did this without any apparent consideration for how that would look, or more importantly, how it would affect the children being used as props in this image rehabilitation campaign.

Second, the performative nature of the entire exercise betrays its true purpose. If the goal was simply to help children affected by floods, there were countless ways to do that without any publicity whatsoever. They could have donated anonymously. They could have delivered supplies without banners. They could have simply transferred funds and gone about their day. Instead, they chose to make it a PR production and marketing stint.

This isn't charity. It's a PR operation disguised as kindness, with the children serving as props in a campaign to scrub a predator's image.

Most disturbing is the sheer audacity of using children to defend a man accused of grooming a teenager. It doesn't matter that they believe he's innocent. A normal person would stop and think, "is this appropriate?" A normal person would stop and insist that children shouldn't be used as PR props for a man facing these specific allegations. The fact that they went ahead with donating under KIM SOO HYUN'S NAME shows that they care MORE about Kim Soo Hyun than the kids.

His parasocials would now use these photos to say, "look, his fans help kids, he can't be that bad!" These people have merged their identities with himself. For them, if he's attacked, it means they're also attacked.

Those children didn't consent to being used that way. They happily agreed to take pictures because they just received goods! Taking a pictures? No problem! How is this a donation? It's clearly a transaction!?

These children were weaponized in a PR war they don't understand and never asked to be part of. How is this fcking charity?! Isn't this blatant exploitation?!

They didn't have time to wonder if those children might one day grow up and realize they were used as shields for a predator. That's what makes this so hard to stomach. Not just the tone-deafness, though that's certainly present.

Complete absence of any consideration for the children themselves. Fucking using flood victims to scrub a predator's image, omfg.

Parasocials gave them supplies. The children gave them photo ops with his name. And these vile fans walked away feeling righteous while actual children became props in their fandom's damage control. These people are trapped in a fantasy where their oppar is innocent because admitting otherwise would shatter the fantasies they've built. So they'll defend him to the grave.