Pop music producer Tetsuya Komuro will work with a Seoul-based environment conservation group tackling yellow sand, acid rain and other problems in Northeast Asia, sources close to the group said Saturday.
Komuro will help the Northeast Asian Environment and Cultural Alliance, which counts among its members lawmakers and cultural figures from Japan, South Korea and China, they said.
The Japanese producer will be giving a news conference in mid-January in Seoul to make an announcement on the plan, the sources said.
According to the sources, Komuro will produce a theme song for environmental protection to be performed by singers from the three countries. Profits will be used to deal with the yellow sand problem that plagues much of Northeast Asia.
He will also promote the environmental campaign when he stages a concert by Japanese and South Korean musicians in Seoul in mid-April to mark the first anniversary of the World Cup soccer finals, which the two countries jointly hosted.
Komuro serves as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. International Drug Control Program and is also known for supporting victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Komuro, who has produced a number of gold records, leads the band Globe and has also produced famous young Japanese pop stars such as Namie Amuro and Tomomi Kahara.
The environmental conservation group was set up in 2001 and is headed by Kang Un Tae, a former South Korean interior minister.