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

Netflix to invest $2.5 billion in South Korean content

SEOUL — Netflix will invest $2.5 billion in South Korean content over the next four years, the streaming giant's CEO Ted Sarandos announced after meeting with the country's President Yoon Suk Yeol in Washington.

South Korea has cemented its status as a global cultural powerhouse in recent years, thanks in part to the explosive success of the Oscar-winning film "Parasite" and the hit Netflix series "Squid Game".

"Netflix is delighted to confirm that we will invest USD 2.5 billion in Korea including the creation of Korean series, films, and unscripted shows over the next four years," Sarandos said in a statement given to AFP Tuesday.

"This investment plan is twice the total amount Netflix has invested in the Korean market since we started our service in Korea in 2016."

Sarandos said that Netflix had "great confidence" that South Korea's creative industry would continue to tell great stories, pointing to the recent success of global hits such as "The Glory" and the reality show "Physical 100".

"It is incredible that the love towards Korean shows has led to a wider interest in Korea, thanks to the Korean creators' compelling stories. Their stories are now at the heart of the global cultural zeitgeist," he added.

Over the last few years, South Korean content has taken the world by storm, with over 60 percent of Netflix viewers watching a show from the East Asian country in 2022, company data showed.

Netflix, which spent more than 1 trillion won ($750 million) developing Korean content from 2015 to 2021, had previously said it would be expanding its South Korean show output, without giving details of spending plans.

Yoon, who arrived in Washington Monday for a six-day state visit, hailed what he described as a "very meaningful" meeting with Sarandos, according to a transcript shared with AFP by the president's office.

Yoon said the new investment "will be a great opportunity for the Korean content industry, creators, and Netflix. We sincerely welcome Netflix's exceptional investment decision."

Yoon's is set to meet US President Joe Biden Wednesday, with his visit coming as the allies move to bulk up military cooperation over North Korea's expanding nuclear threats.

Pyongyang has conducted another record-breaking string of sanctions-defying launches this year, including test-firing North Korea's first solid-fuel ballistic missile this month -- a key technical breakthrough for its military.

In response, Yoon has pulled South Korea closer to long-standing ally Washington, and the trip has a packed schedule including the summit with Biden, where the pair will celebrate 70 years of ties.

Yoon was also accompanied by more than 120 South Korean business leaders, including Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, and the visit could address their concerns over Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

Analysts have said that the trip going well is particularly important for Yoon, who is eager to boost his low domestic approval ratings especially in the realm of foreign policy.

Agence France-Presse

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

4 K-pop stars, including BTS’ Jungkook, test negative after visiting Itaewon last month

SEOUL — BTS’ Jungkook and three other K-pop idol singers visited Itaewon, the center of the recent outbreak of the new coronavirus in Seoul, together late last month but have tested negative for the virus, their agencies said Monday.

A local internet-based daily reported earlier in the day that Jungkook, Jaehyun of NCT, Mingyu of Seventeen and Cha Eun-woo of Astro hung out at a restaurant and two different bars on April 25 in Itaewon, Seoul’s most popular nightlife and multicultural neighborhood, while the country was under relaxed social distancing in response to COVID-19.


As soon as the report was out, management agencies of the four K-pop stars confirmed the visit and apologized for their failure to comply with the social distancing campaign.

They pointed out, however, that the stars did not visit specific bars and clubs where the cluster infection occurred and tested negative for the virus.

The country has seen a spike in the number of new daily infections since a 29-year-old man tested positive following visits to five clubs and bars in Itaewon in early May.

A total of 170 infection cases, including clubgoers, their family members and colleagues, have been reported as of Monday morning.


Quarantine authorities have asked people who have been to Itaewon and nearby areas from April 24-May 6 to undergo virus tests even if they don’t have any symptoms.

Big Hit Entertainment, the agency of BTS, admitted that Jungkook visited the district on April 25, and he got tested even though he had no COVID-19-related symptoms. The 22-year-old tested negative for the virus, it added.

“He deeply reflects on his conduct that he did not comply with social distancing sincerely,” Big Hit said. “We will make sure that this kind of problem will not happen again and apologize for worrying many people including fans.”

SM Entertainment, which manages NCT, also confirmed the news report and said that Jaehyun tested negative after getting examined on his own initiative.

“Jaehyun regrets his carelessness as he had to refrain from personal meetings during social distancing,” the company said.

Pledis Entertainment and Fantagio, which are behind Seventeen and Astro, respectively, said their artists spent the night in Itaewon and apologized for not complying with social distancing properly.

Yonhap

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

K-pop star Seungri summoned over gambling charges

SEOUL — Seungri, a former member of the K-pop boy band BIGBANG, appeared Wednesday for a police probe over illegal overseas gambling allegations.

Dressed in formal attire, the disgraced K-pop star said he will sincerely take part in the probe and apologized for “causing deep worries”. He did not reply to journalists’ questions about gambling charges.


Earlier this month, police booked Seungri and Yang Hyun-suk, the former CEO of BIGBANG’s management agency, YG Entertainment, over the allegations.

The two are charged with habitually gambling in foreign countries and illegally securing funds for gambling in violation of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act.

Cable network JTBC reported that Seungri and Yang were regular guests at Las Vegas hotel casinos where they gambled millions of dollars.

Prior to the overseas gambling allegations, Seungri was referred to the prosecution in June on embezzlement and pimping charges.

Seungri, whose legal name is Lee Seung-hyun, ceased all entertainment activities in March after a nightclub he was associated with came under probe over drug use and sexual abuse. Yonhap

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

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

JYJ’s Junsu opens up about hotel controversy

Junsu of K-pop group JYJ attempted to clear the controversy involving him and Toscana Hotel employees via Instagram on Tuesday.

A local media outlet reported Tuesday that Junsu had allegedly earned an unfair profit of $2.62 million from the hotel business. The employee came forward with multiple allegations of financial grievances after the hotel was sold to a real estate company in January.

The 30-year-old singer called the report defamatory and said that he had never made money by harming others.

“Someone used false information and made that ring true to others. It made me sound like a total swindler,” he said.

The Toscana Hotel on Jeju Island was built in September 2014 on the land purchased by Junsu in January 2011. His father was appointed chairman of the hotel while his brother assumed the post of CEO.

“I chose to sell the hotel because a businessmen advised me that that would be better for the hotel and the employees’ future,” Junsu said.

Singer-actor Kim Moo-young, the twin brother of Junsu, took up the issue on his Instagram account on Wednesday.

“My brother has been trying his best to support the hotel management, even selling his cars and wristwatches,” he said. “Please let Junsu join the military without any more concerns.”

The artist was sued by the construction company involved in the hotel project in November 2014, a case which he won in June 2015.

Junsu will begin his two-year military service on Thursday.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net