Here’s the tea: Team Bunnies, a dedicated fan union supporting K‑pop group NewJeans, just found themselves on the wrong side of South Korea’s Donation Solicitation Act and were referred to prosecutors after raising ₩51.2 million in just eight hours. And guess what? No legal registration. That’s a major oops.
So what actually happened:
- On October 21, 2024, Team Bunnies launched a high-speed fundraising campaign, claiming the money would go toward legal action against malicious online commenters targeting NewJeans. Within hours, they’d raised roughly $37,000 USD.
- Under South Korean law, any public fundraising over ₩10 million requires prior registration. They missed that memo—and local authorities took notice fast. Investigators confirmed: no registration, big signal failure.
Now the legal cavalry has arrived:
- A representative, known only as “A,” has been sent to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office under allegations of breaching fundraising regulations. Next steps could include heavy fines or even jail time.
This all erupted after a concerned citizen filed a complaint via the national petition platform. They flagged the campaign as suspicious and unregistered, triggering an official probe. Team Bunnies defended themselves, saying the campaign was for protecting the artists, not personal profit—but authorities are digging deeper.
Who even are Team Bunnies?
They call themselves a group of professional fans—lawyers, media workers, cultural advocates—who backed NewJeans in their legal dispute with ADOR. They earned praise from creative director Min Hee‑jin, who compared them to the legendary folk hero Hong Gil‑dong. But their high-profile activism has also drawn criticism. Many fans clarified that Team Bunnies does not represent the entire Bunnyz fandom.
This case is being watched closely, because it highlights a growing concern in K‑pop fandom: when fan-driven fundraising ventures into murky territory, the legal system might jump in. As public participation in entertainment becomes more organized, the rules around financial transparency matter. This could become a landmark moment for how fan funding is regulated—especially in South Korea’s privacy and donation landscape.
