A previous report claimed they had donated a shockingly low sum.
W Korea’s annual breast cancer awareness campaign, “Love Your W,” recently came under fierce criticism after netizens felt that the organizers and attendees handled the event frivolously.
W Korea’s Star-Studded Charity Event Seemingly Mocks Cancer Patients— Triggers Backlash
Apart from this year’s event, another major controversial aspect of this campaign has left many netizens fuming, and that is the actual financial contribution of W Korea toward the cause. Recently, reports claimed that W Korea has cumulatively contributed just ₩315 million KRW (about $222,000 USD) to the Korea Breast Health Foundation over the past 17 years. Since this figure is significantly lower than the ₩1.10 billion KRW (about $774,000 USD) sum that the magazine claimed to have donated, it sparked an even bigger backlash from the public.
Damning Proof Exposes W Korea Has Donated Shockingly Less Money Than They Claim
In response, W Korea issued a statement to TopStarNews on October 18, KST, clarifying their contributions. They stated that the magazine’s funds were included in the statement, as were the amounts donated directly to the foundation by the companies and individuals participating in the “Love Your W” campaign.
Since our first collaboration with the Korea Breast Health Foundation in 2006, except for the years 2007 to 2009 when donations were made to a different foundation, the campaign has been conducted in the same way up to 2025. All donations made through the two methods have been cross-verified by both parties. We also confirmed that the data submitted by the foundation to the Ministry of Health and Welfare matches this.
— W Korea
According to the organization, the data submitted by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Soo Jin, which showed W Korea’s contribution to bem ₩315 million KRW (about $222,000 USD), had omitted the amounts donated by companies and individuals through the campaign. In addition, from 2007 to 2009, the donations were made to the Seoul branch of the Planned Population Federation of Korea instead of the Korea Breast Health Foundation and hence some records are unverifiable through the current foundation’s data.
If we add the direct donations from companies and individuals that were omitted from the submitted data, along with the amounts donated to the Seoul branch of the Planned Population Federation of Korea during those three years, the total accumulated donation from 2006 to 2024 is not 300 million KRW but 960 million KRW. Including the 2025 donation of 150 million KRW, the total over 20 years amounts to 1.1 billion KRW.
— W Korea
This clarification has come amid a sustained silence from W Korea over the increasing scrutiny of their campaign this year. However, the criticism is yet to slow down.
