When a male Korean celebrity enlists for mandatory military service, he often leaves a parting gift in the form of a song, album, or even a TV or film project for fans who will dearly miss him. ASTRO member Cha Eunwoo (차은우) is currently serving in the military and will not be discharged until 2027. However, fans are still being well fed, as he prepared plenty of content for them before his enlistment.
Not only that, but his duties in the military allow him to make public appearances, giving his supporters the chance to see him from time to time. His latest mini album, “ELSE”, is set to be released this month, and as part of the promotion, fans will get to hear his voice as if they were calling him in person. Unfortunately, their excitement may have caused some inconvenience to others — here’s what we mean:
Earlier this week, Cha Eunwoo’s official social media pages posted a video of a rotary dial phone with the caption, “Call me now, before the sound is gone,” along with a phone number. Naturally, fans were both excited and curious. When they called the number, a pre-recorded voice message from the idol himself could be heard on the other end.
This feature is known as an Audience Response System (ARS), an interactive tool typically used by presenters to collect real-time feedback and engagement from an audience, as mentioned in the social media post. Many would consider this a wonderful gift for fans who miss the singer, as it offers them a small sense of interaction with him while he’s away serving in the military.
That said, it hasn’t been without its downsides. When people get too excited, mistakes can happen. Some fans reportedly dialled the wrong number by accident, leading to confusion when someone other than the ASTRO member answered the phone. Fantagio issued an official statement apologising to those affected by the random calls and advised fans to carefully check the number before dialling.
“The official number for Cha Eunwoo’s ARS voice content is 070-8919-0330, and only this number connects to the event. Recently, some users have entered the number incorrectly, causing calls to be directed elsewhere. Please make sure to dial the correct number. We sincerely apologise to those who have been affected,” the statement read. Let this be a lesson to fans to double-check the correct information, and to the organiser, who should have seen this coming.
