10 years of K-pop megastars BTS: Five things to know

SEOUL — Seoul this week marks 10 years of megastars BTS, the supergroup credited with bringing K-pop into the global mainstream and generating billions of dollars for the South Korean economy.

They've been called "icons of progressive globalism", were once South Korean presidential envoys, and have done everything from Korean Air in-flight safety videos to campaigning for UNICEF.

At heart, however, they're entertainers. Here, AFP breaks down what you need to know about BTS:

WHO ARE BTS? 

After debuting on June 13, 2013, the septet went on to become the first all-South Korean act to dominate the US and UK charts, raking in billions of dollars and building a global fandom, known as ARMY, in the process.

Their embrace of social media meant they barely missed a beat during the pandemic, using direct engagement with fans online to cement their position as the world's biggest and most influential boy band.

Despite earlier breakthrough Korean hits like Psy's "Gangnam Style", BTS are widely credited with bringing K-pop into the mainstream in the US.

"As a South Korean idol group, BTS have smashed so many preconceived notions and industry odds to become chart-topping, Grammy-nominated musicians," Jeff Benjamin, Billboard's K-pop columnist, told AFP.

"Crucially, they did it not by adjusting their viewpoints, perspectives or languages to cater to the larger market but by firmly establishing themselves as the K-pop musicians they are."

WHAT DO THEY DO? 

Aside from music, the band has long championed global progressive causes, from the Black Lives Matter protests to fighting anti-Asian racism in the United States.

They've spoken at the United Nations and appeared at the White House, while still remaining one of the most popular bands in the world on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.

Prior to BTS, K-pop "was treated as a niche interest, separate from global culture", Sarah Keith, a senior lecturer in media and music at Australia's Macquarie University, told AFP.

"BTS's global popularity has led to a change in this perspective. BTS has arguably changed how the world perceives South Korea."

HOW ARE THEY CELEBRATING?

Ironically, the band is currently on a hiatus, with two members performing their mandatory South Korean military service.

All able-bodied South Korean men must serve at least 18 months in the military, and after a years-long debate about whether BTS deserved an exemption, Jin, the oldest member of the group, began his service in December. J-Hope started his service in April.

But the septet released a new digital single last week to celebrate the anniversary: "Take Two", purportedly a nod to the band's second chapter after a decade as musicians.

"All seven members participated in 'Take Two'", their agency Hybe said. "The song conveys their appreciation for ARMY, for all the love you shower them with."

A number of important tourist spots across Seoul, including the Namsan Seoul Tower and Dongdaemun Design Plaza, will be lit up in purple -- ARMY's colour -- in celebration of the anniversary.

Band leader RM will attend the main event of the celebration in Seoul at the Han River Park on June 17.

ON A BREAK? 

The band, who are known to be extremely hard-working and have maintained a relentless pace of new releases in their nine years at the top, said last year they were "exhausted" and would take a break.

RM said at the time that the K-pop industry -- known for its cut-throat competition -- was not allowing him to mature as an artist, saying he felt like a "rapping machine".

Since the announcement, BTS members who are still obliged to join the military have focused on their solo careers.

Jimin released his six-track solo album "Face" in March, with the single "Like Crazy" earning him a place in the record books as the first South Korean solo artist to land the number one spot on the top US songs chart.

Band member Suga is currently on his first solo worldwide tour.

WHAT'S NEXT? 

Local media says the ongoing break may last as long as seven years if the septet decides to wait until all members complete their military duties before resuming group activities.

In March, Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of Hybe and the mastermind behind BTS, said industry figures -- including global ratings and album sales -- showed a declining demand for K-pop, blaming the BTS hiatus.

"It remains to be seen how the group can re-integrate as a seven-member group once they have finished their military service, as this is usually a difficult time for male artist groups," Keith said.

But the ongoing break could be "a growth period for BTS overall as members pursue solo interests and add more diversity to BTS's output", she added.

Agence France-Presse 

K-pop megastars BTS to release memoir in July

SEOUL — K-pop megastars BTS will release a memoir in South Korea and the United States in July, its US publisher said, triggering feverish excitement from the supergroup's global fanbase.

BTS has become a global cultural phenomenon, selling out stadiums and dominating charts around the world while raking in billions for South Korea's economy.

Titled "Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS," the book was co-written by South Korean journalist Kang Myeong-seok and members of the band, according to the publisher.

"Who is excited?... #BTSbook," US publisher Flatiron Books said Thursday on its Instagram account, sharing a news article about the launch.

Online forums and social media sites had been awash with speculation about a potential celebrity book release in July, with some commenters saying that it may be authored by Taylor Swift.

The mystery book shot to the top of Amazon and Barnes and Noble bestseller lists after pre-orders by fans.

The K-pop group's 544-page memoir will be released on July 9, according to the book's Amazon page.

It is a tribute to a significant date in the septet's history: the megastars' loyal international fan base known as ARMY came into being that day, 10 years ago.

"I'm so looking forward to the book... It's so cool to be able to look back on the last 10 years with BTS," one fan wrote on Twitter in Korean.

"Will I be able to buy it since the competition is so global?" another feared.

The US edition of the book was translated by Anton Hur with Clare Richards and Slin Jung, Hur said in a tweet.

BTS is currently on a "hiatus," with members pursuing solo projects while two of the group have enlisted for mandatory South Korean military service.

All able-bodied men in South Korea must serve at least 18 months in the military and, after a years-long debate about whether BTS deserved an exemption, Jin, the oldest member of the group, enlisted last year.

BTS star J-Hope started his mandatory South Korean military service last month, South Korean media reported at the time, becoming the K-pop juggernaut's second member to enlist.

Before the pause, BTS bagged six No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 and all seven members of the boyband have reached the top songs chart with solo tracks, Billboard said.

For more news and features on K-pop, K-drama, and K-stars, visit the Hallyu Corner microsite.  

Agence France-Presse

BTS rewrites Billboard history with ‘Life Goes On’

SEOUL — It was not the first time that sensational K-pop boy band BTS had seen its name at the top of US music publication Billboard’s main singles chart, but this time it was different.

Billboard on Monday announced via social media that “Life Goes On,” the lead track of the band’s latest album, “Be,” debuted at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100, the coveted singles chart, becoming the first song sung predominantly in Korean to top the chart in its 62-year history. It also marked the first non-English song to debut in the top spot.

The single “drew 14.9 million US streams and sold 150,000 in the week ending Nov. 26,” Billboard stated.

While the group has celebrated the milestone of topping the Billboard main chart earlier in September with their prereleased single “Dynamite,” the disco-pop song had been an all-English song and had sparked controversy as to whether it could actually be considered part of the K-pop genre.

“Many people had been wary even until now, saying ‘Dynamite’ became No. 1 as it is an all-English song, degrading BTS’ value as musicians,” Lee Gyu-tag, a cultural studies professor at George Mason University Korea, told The Korea Herald. “‘Life Goes On’ has proved that BTS could succeed without the exquisite strategies targeting the US music market.”

Lee explained that such a feat by “Life Goes On” is more significant, as it could hint at diversification in the global music industry.

“It’s a soft ballad song singing words of comfort to people worn out from the virus pandemic. Although it was unclear whether both the song and its message could succeed commercially, the members pushed through with voicing their honest thoughts in their own way, and this seemed to have won the hearts of many listeners,” Lee said.

“Just a decade before, K-pop songs were often considered exotic and even mocked. With the efforts of BTS and many other Korean artists, much of the wall has been torn down.”

Meanwhile, the eight-track set, released Nov. 20, debuted atop this week’s main albums chart, the Billboard 200, becoming the group’s fifth consecutive chart-topping album, spanning just 2 1/2 years. The band is the first act to achieve five No. 1 hits on the albums chart since British rock legends the Beatles in the 1960s. BTS is also the only act other than Taylor Swift to grab top placements on both the main singles and album charts in Billboard history.

The last track of the album, “Dynamite” climbed back up to No. 3 on the chart from No. 14 last week, remaining on the chart for 14 consecutive weeks. The band is the first act to debut multiple songs on Billboard’s main singles chart.

“We thank you so much. It’s grateful that we not only reached No. 1 but hold two songs in the top 3. We’re sincerely grateful to all the Army who love us,” BTS said on social media on Tuesday, reacting to Billboard’s announcement. “Army” refers to the band’s official fandom.

Pop culture critic Jung Min-jae said the feat achieved by “Life Goes On’” shows that BTS’ fandom has reached another milestone in the United States.

“While ‘Dynamite’ had enjoyed explosive US radio streams as an English song, ‘Life Goes On’ showed a disappointing number in terms of radio plays. And this proves that BTS now holds a fandom huge enough to guarantee them a No. 1 in the launch week just with digital streaming and downloads, as well as an enhanced reputation among the general public in the US,” Jung said.

“But this just proves BTS is at the pinnacle of stardom, as all pop culture has always revolved around such fandoms that make the stars, and in return, enforce their stardom even more. This has applied exactly the same to other global stars, such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and the Beatles. Stars only exist upon huge fandoms,” the critic added.

Jung explains that with popular K-pop idol groups such as BTS, the unique fandom culture in this digital age — which supports artists through aggressive streaming and advertising on social media — has amplified the power of stardom in the US, which was once considered too big a market to be targeted by a single fandom.

With the top US music charts now under the group’s belts, hopes are higher for BTS to also take down music’s top award — a Grammy — after the act became the first K-pop artists to earn a nomination.

Stating he had been predicting a win even ahead of Billboard announcements Monday, professor Lee said, “Based on BTS’ achievements and popularity this year, I would not be surprised to see them win — or rather — disappointed if they didn’t.”

Jung was more cautious in promising a win, stating a nod as a finalist is symbolic in itself.

“The nomination proves that this team has become a rightful part of their industry and that it is impossible to disregard them,” the critic said.

“While the Recording Academy (which presents the Grammys) has been making efforts to embrace more diversity in their members in recent years, this has not led to a significant difference in the results.”

At the 63rd Grammy Awards, slated for Jan. 31 in Los Angeles, BTS will vie in the category for best pop duo/group performance against stars including Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa.

-The Korea Herald

BTS’ ‘DNA’ music video tops 1 billion YouTube views

SEOUL — The music video of BTS’ 2017 hit song “DNA” topped 1 billion YouTube views on Monday, becoming the band’s first music video to surpass that milestone.

“DNA,” the lead track of BTS’ 2017 album “Love Yourself: Her,” achieved the feat early Monday morning, according to the band’s label-management agency Big Hit Entertainment.


Released in September 2017, the song stayed on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for four consecutive weeks, and in February the following year, it was certified “Gold” by the Recording Industry Association of America.

“DNA” is so far the most viewed video in BTS’ globally acclaimed catalogue, followed by “Boy With Luv” featuring Halsey, with over 700 million views, and “Fire,” “MIC Drop” and “Idol,” each with over 600 million views.

The septet has announced that it is currently producing a new album to be released in the coming months. BTS also plans to hold a paid online concert, Bang Bang Con the Live, on June 14.

BTS is also the first male K-pop group with a music video with over 1 billion views. Singer Psy was the first Korean artist to achieve the milestone with his 2012 global hit “Gangnam Style,” with K-pop girl band BLACKPINK also racking up more than 1 billion views with “Ddu-du Ddu-du” in November of last year.

Yonhap News Agency

BTS’ ‘Fake Love’ tops 700m YouTube views

SEOUL — The music video of K-pop boy band BTS’ “Fake Love” has drawn more than 700 million clicks on YouTube, the band’s management agency said Sunday.

The lead track of BTS’ 2018 release “Love Yourself: Tear” surpassed the 700 million mark at around 6 p.m., according to Big Hit Entertainment.

This is the group’s third music video to hit this number of views on the global video-streaming site, after “DNA” and “Boy With Luv.”

Yonhap News Agency

Teenage BTS fans swindled by financial frauds

SEOUL — Judy Bae, 19, a member of the global fan club of South Korean boy band BTS known as ARMY never thought she would be exposed to financial fraud risks until she received a Twitter message from a fellow member asking for money in December last year.

Pretending as a teen ARMY member, the man who turned out to be in his 20s, claimed that he need money so that he could buy new albums or rare photo images of BTS members. He said he would pay her back soon, but never kept that promise.

Bae sent over 1 million won ($812) to her fellow BTS fan. But it was too late for her to realize the money she sent out of solidarity was irretrievable.

“I trusted him and have sent the money in several installments so far, but he never paid me back, ignoring my calls and messages,” she said.

In fear of telling her parents of losing money, Bae researched online and discovered she was not the only one.

Bae is one of a number of teenagers who have been victims of financial fraud schemes targeted at young idol fans.


A 27-year-old youth counselor identified only by her surname Jung launched a Twitter community in March to seek relief measures for teen victims. The community now has around 30 members who claim to be victims of unexpected financial fraud. Around 70 percent of them are underage with the total damage reaching some 13 million won.

“There is a close bond between teenage fans and this makes it easy for swindlers to deceive them, posing as teenagers,” said Jung. “Starting this year, I even heard of many similar cases in which swindlers beg for money, saying they are in a bit of a tight spot financially due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Young idol fans are often a target of such financial fraud as offenders take advantage of underage students’ inability to take legal steps to recover financial damages, according to local police.

“Teenagers cannot file a civil lawsuit without telling their parents. Even if they have legal representatives and pursue civil lawsuits to get the money back from offenders, it takes a long period of time while relevant legal expenses surpass 1 million won, even for minor thievery or fraud cases,” said Lim Pan-jun, head of cybercrime investigation unit at Dongdaemun Police Station.

Online money transfer scams targeting teenagers have been on the rise.


As of 2019, the number of SNS postings that involve illegal financial transactions with teenagers as well as college students reached 12,000, nine times higher than a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

“In some cases, individual lenders granted small loans worth less than 100,000 won to young students aged below 19 on SNS and then required interest rates as high as 10 percent a day,” said Ahn Shin-won, an official at FSS’ illegal private loans response unit, in charge of monitoring cyber financial frauds.

“Such new online scams have been on the increase recently, so we ask parents and school teachers’ special discretion to their students.”

Some financial authorities say an absence of mandatory finance education at public schools in South Korea could be one of contributing factors behind a surge in teenager-related money frauds.

In a recent joint survey released by Financial Services Commission and Gallup Korea, the amount of time spent on teaching financial matters at public schools in Korea reached merely nine hours on average last year. Not included in the official educational curriculum at elementary, middle and high schools, financial subjects have been covered in different courses like social studies.

Meanwhile, the finance education for teenagers is mandatory in many developed countries.

The US and Canada have implemented and operated curriculums covering financial topics at elementary schools since 2014 with an initiative to reduce the social costs of financial crimes involving teenagers.

“Quite a number of fraud cases here were caused by individuals’ lack of basic knowledge regarding finance,” said an official at the FSC Financial Education Department.

“Since there are certainly limits to the authorities’ preventative measures against financial crimes, relevant public education at an early age is indispensable.”

The Korea Herald

BTS to dazzle fans with series of US shows next week

SEOUL — K-pop super band BTS will dazzle the world music scene with a series of high-profile performances in the United Sates next week ahead of its official release of a new album.

American broadcaster iHeartRadio recently announced an upcoming live show featuring the septet, heralding the band‘s full-swing return to the public eye in the run-up to the official release of a new album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” on Feb. 21.


“Although fans have a lot of upcoming dates to look forward to, they can add one more to the list: January 27th,” iHeartRadio said last week on its website.

“The BTS ARMY can watch the band during an exclusive event in Los Angeles, ’iHeartRadio LIVE with BTS‘ presented by Hot Topic,” the broadcaster said.

The Monday show will be closely followed by BTS’ much-anticipated showcase of its new single, “Black Swan,” during a US TV show the very next day.

Appearing on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” on Tuesday, BTS will stage the emo hip-hop song off the band‘s upcoming album, according to the band’s management agency, Big Hit Entertainment.

“Black Swan,” a track under the upcoming full-length album, was pre-released last week before the full release of the album.

Ahead of the two programs, BTS was also reported to take the Grammy stage next week alongside American rapper and singer-songwriter Lil Nas X during the 62nd Grammy Awards ceremony slated for Jan. 26 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

US magazine Variety has recently reported that the American artist will be joined onstage by BTS and other musicians when he performs his megahit song, “Old Town Road,” during the ceremony.

In July last year, BTS leader RM released a collaboration with Lil Nas X called “Seoul Town Road,” a Seoul version of “Old Town Road.”

If confirmed, it will be the K-pop band‘s second appearance on the Grammy stage after BTS attended the awards’ 2019 event as an award presenter. (Yonhap)

BTS’ ‘Boy With Luv’ hits 500 million YouTube views

SEOUL — The music video of K-pop super band BTS’ “Boy With Luv” surpassed 500 million YouTube views Sunday, its management agency said.

The video of the band’s main song on the “Map of the Soul: Persona” album released in April, eclipsed the mark earlier in the day, some four months after it went on sale, according to Big Hit Entertainment.

That makes BTS the first South Korean singers with over 5 million YouTube hits for each of its seven music videos, including those of “DNA,” “Fake Love,” “MIC Drop Remix” and “Idol.”

The “DNA” music video surpassed 800 million views on the global streaming site Saturday.

The song “Boy With Luv” has also blazed a trail by winning three Guinness World Records related to the most-watched YouTube video in the 24 hours after the initial release. (Yonhap)

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

BTS to add five shows to sold-out world tour

SEOUL —  K-pop boy band BTS plans to offer additional concerts on its upcoming tour of five cities in the United States and Europe, as tickets have sold out, its official website showed Sunday.

The five additional shows will be held at Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on May 5, at Soldier Field in Chicago on May 12, at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey on May 19, at Wembley Stadium in London on June 2 and at Stade de France in Paris on June 8.


The announcement came a day after the sale all tickets sold out for their scheduled month-long stadium tour from early May, titled “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself.”

Following the tour of the two continents, BTS plans to move to Japan’s Osaka where they will perform from July 6-7 at Yanmar Stadium Nagai, to be followed by the final concerts, from July 13-14, at Shizuoka’s Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net