SEOUL -- Two more members of K-pop phenomenon BTS, RM and V, were set to start mandatory South Korean military service Monday, local media reported, with the final two members expected to enlist this week.
All able-bodied men in South Korea must serve at least 18 months in the military.
After a years-long debate about whether BTS deserved an exemption, Jin, the oldest member of the group, enlisted last year and his bandmates J-Hope and SUGA followed this year.
RM and V were set to begin their five-week basic training at an army boot camp in South Chungcheong province on Monday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
RM -- whose full name is Kim Nam-joon and is the leader of BTS -- posted a message to fans late Sunday, saying it will be "a time of learning and new inspirations."
"Goodbye for now. Let us be us, whenever and wherever! Let's meet in the future," he wrote on social media platform Weverse.
V -- real name Kim Tae-hyung -- shared selfies donning his newly shorn, military-approved buzzcut with sunglasses and a scarf.
"It has been a dream to wear sunglasses with a shaved head. I wanted to try it someday and it worked out well," he wrote Sunday on his Instagram account.
The septet has become a global cultural phenomenon, selling out stadiums around the world and dominating key US charts while raking in billions for South Korea's economy and building an international legion of fans known as ARMY.
Their label BIGHIT MUSIC had confirmed in November that the last four members of the group would enlist, but did not disclose additional details.
The two remaining members, Jimin and Jung Kook, are due to enlist on Tuesday, according to local media.
SEOUL — Shares in the management agency of the K-pop supergroup BTS plummeted Wednesday in early trading in Seoul after the band announced they were taking an indefinite break.
The 7 members, credited with generating billions of dollars for the South Korean economy, dropped the bombshell during their streamed "FESTA" dinner, part of a celebration that marks their anniversary as a group.
The news sent shares of the band's label HYBE tumbling -- it was down about 27 percent as of 10:40 a.m. local time (9:40 a.m. in Manila).
The stock -- down nearly 60 percent so far this year -- was headed for its lowest close on record since its trading debut in October 2020, wiping $1.6 billion off its market value, Bloomberg News reported.
The group cited the pressures of fame and success in explaining the break, and said they planned to focus on solo pursuits.
BTS's label enjoyed a surge in profits despite the group staging fewer concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The septet is the first all-South Korean act to reign over Billboard's US top singles chart, a milestone they achieved with "Dynamite" -- the first BTS song performed completely in English.
They are also one of few acts since The Beatles to release 4 albums that hit number 1 stateside in less than 2 years.
The group has twice been nominated for a Grammy but has yet to win.
BTS recently made headlines for visiting the White House to deliver a message to US President Joe Biden on the fight against anti-Asian racism.
BTS has said they were going on short breaks before, first in 2019 and later in December 2021.
SEOUL — South Korean boy band BTS is to put on their first shows for their home fans since the coronavirus pandemic began, with three concerts in the capital, Seoul, next month, their agency said on Wednesday.
The concerts, part of their "Permission to Dance on Stage" tour that has been disrupted by the pandemic, will be at Seoul's Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12, and 13, and will also be live-streamed, Bit Hit Music said.
"We would like to thank all ARMY for patiently waiting for an in-person concert to be held in Korea," the company said on its online fan platform, Weverse, referring to the band's global fan base known as Adorable Representative MC for Youth.
Since their 2013 debut, the band has spearheaded a global K-Pop craze with catchy, upbeat music and dances, as well as lyrics and social campaigns aimed at empowering youngsters.
The seven-member band made history in November, becoming the first Asian artist to win the top prize at the American Music Awards.
Their last concert for South Korean fans was in October 2019, a couple of months before the coronavirus emerged.
As the pandemic spread in 2020, the band postponed and then called off what was meant to be their biggest international tour involving nearly 40 concerts. They held some online shows instead.
They played their first in-person concerts since the onset of the pandemic in November, in Los Angles, and some die-hard South Korean fans flew in for the shows.
The pandemic has also affected some members of the band, though all are fully vaccinated.
V, the singer, and songwriter whose real name is Kim Tae-hyung, was on Tuesday confirmed as the band's fifth member to contract COVID-19, Bit Hit said.
V had no symptoms apart from a mild fever and sore throat, and all other members had tested negative.
"He is currently undergoing treatment at home," the company said in a separate statement, promising a speedy recovery.
Rapper RM, vocalist Jin, and rapper Suga tested positive in December shortly after their return from the U.S. shows, and singer Jimin contracted the virus last month.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin Editing by Robert Birsel)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Three members of the K-pop superstar group BTS have been infected with the coronavirus after returning from abroad, their management agency said.
RM and Jin were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Saturday evening, the Big Hit Music agency said in a statement. It earlier said another member, Suga, tested positive for the virus on Friday.
All three took their second jabs in August, the agency said.
BTS is a seven-member boyband. The four other members are J-Hope, Jungkook, V and Jimin.
According to the agency, RM has exhibited no particular symptoms while Jin is showing mild symptoms including light fever and is undergoing self-treatment at home. The agency said Friday that Suga wasn’t exhibiting symptoms and was administering self-care at home in accordance with the guidelines of the health authorities.
RM had tested negative after returning from the United States earlier this month following his personal schedule there. But he was later diagnosed with the virus ahead of his scheduled release from self-quarantine, the agency said.
After returning to South Korea this month, Jin underwent PCR tests twice — upon arrival and later before his release from self-quarantine — and tested negative both times. But he had flu-like symptoms on Saturday afternoon before he took another PCR test that came back positive, the agency said. Media reports said he also had traveled to the U.S.
BTS receives an award for Artist of the Year at the 49th Annual American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Sunday. The K-pop band beat rival nominees Ariana Grande, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and The Weekend.
JAKARTA - More than a dozen Indonesian McDonald's outlets were temporarily shuttered Wednesday over virus fears as the chain's new BTS meal deal sparked frenzied buying from fans in the K-pop mad country.
Jakarta and several other cities slapped closure stickers on at least 13 outlets that were deluged with online food-delivery drivers picking up a meal set named after the hugely popular Korean boy band.
"We temporarily closed four of six McDonald's stores here in Semarang for a couple of days," said Fajar Purwoto, the city's public order agency head.
"I don't want Semarang to be in the COVID-19 red zone again."
Indonesia is one of the hardest-hit nations in Asia.
Jakarta authorities did not respond to requests for comment. But local media said five stores in the capital were shut over BTS meal orders.
The meal set of chicken nuggets, fries and a drink, first made available in Indonesia Wednesday, has been on offer in dozens of countries since May.
BTS have become global superstars with millions of fans around the world since their debut in 2013.
GWACHEON -- The Brave Girls were losing courage just weeks ago, on the verge of breaking up and abandoning their dreams of K-pop stardom after years of going nowhere.
Then a pseudonymous YouTuber called Viditor uploaded a compilation of them performing on South Korean army bases -- and saved their careers.
"Rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'/I am waiting for you/Babe just only you," they chant, as wildly enthusiastic uniformed conscripts dance and wave glow-sticks.
It went viral and struck millions of chords across the country.
Less than a month later the song reached number one in South Korea and topped the Billboard K-pop 100 in the US, four years after it was originally released -- with their popularity reinforced by their story of struggle against the odds.
The fan-led ascent is a reversal of the usual K-pop model, where bands are usually assembled, trained intensively and launched by record companies, whose marketing and promotion is crucial to their success.
"At the start of this year I thought it was time for us to call an end to it," lead singer Kim Min-young told AFP.
"Reaction to our songs had always been cold... It seemed like no one wanted to see us on stage," she said tearfully.
The Brave Girls started out as a five-piece a decade ago, but fell largely on deaf ears. They were relaunched as a septet in 2016, but the reshuffle did nothing to boost their popularity.
Their five singles and two mini-albums were misses rather than hits, and departures over the next few years whittled them down to four members.
They were reduced to performing on army bases, the South Korean equivalent of a daytime appearance on a side stage at a music festival.
"Our members all felt an emotional burden," said Kim, 30. "I wasn't brave enough to give up on my career or start something new. And I thought if I left the team it would be the end of Brave Girls. So I wanted to keep the team together till the end."
But their tour of duty proved to be the making of them.
'We will definitely win wars'
South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve in uniform to defend it against the nuclear-armed North, a period when they are often dispatched to remote places and deprived of the joys of modern life.
As a common experience it is a unifier and a leveler, and Viditor's compilation -- complete with witty captions such as "Play this song during battles and we will definitely win wars" -- resonated with those who had seen them in the military.
The clip garnered around 15 million views in little more than a month.
"Viditor, you have rediscovered the Brave Girls," wrote one poster. "You are nothing short of the commander of South Korea's 600,000 soldiers."
The uploader -- who said she wanted to remain anonymous to maintain her privacy -- said she had been astonished by the reaction.
She has put together hundreds of compilations of other bands' tracks but never before had similar impact.
"I thought I could make an entertaining video with soldiers' hilarious reactions and funny comments," she said by email. "But I never saw this coming. I am still in disbelief over what has happened."
'Something miraculous happened to us'
The K-pop phenomenon -- epitomized by the global success of BTS -- earns billions of dollars a year for the world's 12th-largest economy.
Scores of groups largely made up of teenagers are launched every year hoping to follow in their footsteps, but most acts quickly disappear, leaving barely a trace on the score of musical history.
Exposure on major television stations has long been a must-have for aspiring K-pop idols. But cultural commentator Jung Ho-jai said the raunchy moves in the original "Rollin'" video were too risque for the networks.
They were left with little choice but to take any booking going, however remote and badly paid, with Jung describing them as "relegated to what was essentially the third tier of the English football league."
But once Viditor posted her video, he said, "somehow YouTube algorithms saw potential in the clip and began displaying it to a wider audience.
"It has proved how important YouTube has become as a media platform."
K-pop firms are increasingly turning to social media sites like YouTube, TikTok and Facebook to develop their bands' fanbases.
"Well over 50 new groups tap into the market every year but less than half appear on major TV stations," Kim Jin-hyung, chief executive of Wuzo Entertainment, told AFP.
"In order for idols to survive, we have to target online platforms that meet the demands of fans."
But for the Brave Girls, it was an amateur poster who made the difference.
Member Lee Yu-na said: "Something very miraculous and inexplicable has happened to us."
SEOUL -- K-pop sensations BTS released their highly anticipated new studio album on Friday, following the historic success of their all-English single "Dynamite."
The trailblazing septet cemented their prominence in the world's biggest market in August, becoming the first South Korean act to top the US singles chart -- with "Dynamite" entering the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1.
They are credited with generating billions for the South Korean economy, and last month their label Big Hit Entertainment made a high-profile stock market debut.
Their latest effort, titled "BE", was to be given a simultaneous worldwide release at 2 p.m. South Korean time.
The new, eight-track record is the group's fifth Korean-language studio album, and "contains the most 'BTS-esque' music yet," Big Hit said in a statement ahead of the release.
"BTS have been on an explosive trajectory this year -- an amazing feat considering how much they've been continuously attracting new fans for years now," Jenna Gibson, a researcher at the University of Chicago, told AFP.
"Before this year, some skeptics may have still had doubts that BTS were just a fad, that the growth would drop off. This year has clearly, firmly, put those doubts to rest.
"It's hard to overestimate the anticipation for this album."
The English single "Dynamite" is among the tracks on the album, and the first number, "Life Goes On," aims to deliver a "message of healing" in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Big Hit said.
"Our goal with the music on 'BE' is that it can be a comfort to a lot of people," member Jimin told a press conference Friday. "If many people can relate to it, I will be really thankful."
Since their debut in 2013, BTS have ascended to global superstardom, holding a string of sold-out shows in Los Angeles, Paris and London last year.
Their lyrics are often socially conscious -- themes include societal competition and the ills of consumerism -- and they consistently engage with fans at home and abroad through social media, having accumulated 30.7 million followers on Twitter.
"What this album needs to do is to persuade the skeptics who have more recently heard about BTS that their work is powerful, original, and deep," CedarBough Saeji, a visiting professor at Indiana University Bloomington, told AFP.
"If this album can demonstrate that loyal fans exist in large part because of phenomenal artistic offerings, the critics who attribute BTS's success only to loyal fans will be forced to reassess."
The megastars are scheduled to perform "Dynamite" and "Life Goes On" for the 2020 American Music Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles.
K-pop stars BTS picked up four prizes at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Sunday, including best song for "Dynamite" and best group, capping a year in which the Korean band underlined its status as a major global act.
The group's first English-language song, Dynamite logged nearly 34 million US streams and 300,000 sales in its first week, making BTS the first Korean act to debut at No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The seven-member band also snagged MTV awards for best virtual live act and the biggest fans, although the coronavirus pandemic meant there was no audience and no ceremony to mark their achievement.
Instead, the music channel created a virtual stadium full of waving and cheering fans for the event, with acts appearing in pre-recorded performances from wherever they were located and winners accepting awards to camera.
British band Little Mix hosted the show, without member Jesy Nelson who was reported to be ill. They appeared on a computer generated stage within the "stadium".
In a nod to the pandemic, US rapper Jack Harlow sang "Whats Poppin" on a stage with four dancers wearing face masks.
Karol G won the new best Latin act category and best collaboration for "Tusa" featuring Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga took the best artist award and DJ Khaled was awarded best video.
Little Mix, who performed "Sweet Melody" in a performance recorded in London, won the best pop act for 2020.
Cardi B was named best hip-hop act, Coldplay won the best rock category and Hayley Williams won the award for best alternative act.
Among the performers was Alicia Keys who sang "Love Looks Better" and Sam Smith, who performed "Diamonds" on the stage of an empty theatre.
US singer and rapper Doja Cat, who took home this year's best new act award, opened the show with her hit "Say So".
French DJ and producer David Guetta, who won the award for best electronic act, performed "Let's Love" with British singer Raye at the Széchenyi Bath complex in the Hungarian capital Budapest, accompanied by a laser show.
SEOUL - Investors are anxiously awaiting as the South Korean entertainment company behind hugely popular K-pop boy band BTS plans its initial public offering next Thursday, with its market value expected to reach 4.8 trillion won ($4.14 billion).
As institutional investors sought a slice of Big Hit Entertainment shares, the company's IPO price has reached the top end of the range indicated by it earlier. As a result, the company is set to raise around 960 billion won from debuting on the Korea Exchange.
Seven members of the band, who are all in their 20s, will each receive shares worth 9.2 billion won.
Since its debut in South Korea in 2013, BTS has gone on to win many fans across the world with its synchronized dance moves and hip-hop songs as well as their beautiful melodies.
BTS's songs are known for lyrics that address social issues, one reason the group seems to resonate with many young people. The group topped the Billboard album chart in 2018 and reached the No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart this year.
For many years, South Korea's entertainment business had been dominated by three major companies. But Big Hit Entertainment, a relative new entrant to the market, had an operating profit last year larger than those of the three companies combined.
Most of its earnings come from businesses related to BTS.
The South Korean government has expressed hopes for increasing demand for BTS-advertised products and BTS-related tourism. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently estimated that its recent big hit single "Dynamite" would alone generate an economic effect worth 1.7 trillion won.
As is often the case with a South Korean boy band, however, mandatory military service hovers over the group members. That leaves a potential question mark on Big Hit Entertainment's post-IPO prospects.
Concern over the company's business prospects briefly arose when speculation grew that the group's oldest member, 27-year-old Jin, would soon serve in the military. South Korean men usually begin serving in the military before turning 28.
The company sought to quiet the chatter in early September, after it had announced its IPO plan, by saying that Jin's conscription could be postponed until the end of next year under a provision in the military service law.
The company is believed to be referring to a provision that allows people enrolled in graduate schools to postpone their mandatory service.
But all seven members will have to serve between 18 and 22 months in the military at some point, provided the law remains unchanged. That means the company will have to find a way to keep the group relevant while it lacks some of its members due to military duty.
SEOUL -- The manager of South Korea’s popular boyband BTS has apologized on behalf of one of its members who went to a bar in April, contrary to government advice, just as the country is trying to contain a recent coronavirus outbreak around Seoul’s club scene. Jungkook, the BTS’ main vocalist, visited a restaurant and a bar in the Itaewon neighbourhood with friends on April 25, the boyband’s management Big Hit Entertainment said on Monday. A new cluster of virus cases emerged in that neighbourhood this month as social distancing measures eased on May 6, prompting authorities to delay school reopening and close bars and clubs again. “We have no excuse that we placed the artist’s personal life before we were able to emphasise the importance of social distancing. We bow our head in apology,” the company said. The 22-year old, who was there before the first case among Itaewon clubgoers was confirmed, is not showing any symptoms and has tested negative for the coronavirus, Big Hit said. “He is also deeply regretting on how he did not follow social distancing measures seriously.” South Korea has been lauded for its quick and effective response to the pandemic but the resurgence of cases has raised concerns about a second wave of infections here Before the rules were eased on May 6, authorities had allowed clubs and bars to stay open as long as they complied with strict social distancing measures, while advising people not to visit them. Local media reported three other boy band members were with Jungkook during that outing, including Cha Eun-woo of Astro, Mingyu of Seventeen and Jaehyun of NCT. The managers of all three issued statements confirming they were in Itaewon on the same day as Jungkook, apologising for their failure to follow social distancing measures. Jaehyun posted a handwritten apology on social media. As of Monday, 170 cases have been traced to the Itaewon outbreak, with several hundreds in self isolation, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The seven-member BTS suspended their world tour over coronavirus concerns last month. -reuters-
MANILA - South Korean singer Chung Ha has cancelled all her scheduled activities after two of her staff members have reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Citing MNH Entertainment, K-pop news website Soompireported that that the singer and all those who accompanied her in Italy will go into self-isolation despite testing negative for COVID-19 as requested by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “For the sake of safety, all scheduled activities have been canceled for the time being, and we will continue to take the best possible measures and deal with [the virus] faithfully,” the statement said. “We thank everyone working hard to combat the virus, and we will do our best to protect our safety and health from COVID-19,” it added. Chung Hawill have to skip several shows, including the Head in the Clouds Festival in Jakarta. South Korea has recorded over 2,000 COVID-19 cases – the highest number in the world outside China, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEOUL - K-pop megastars BTS on Friday canceled four concerts they were due to hold in Seoul in April, their agency said, as the coronavirus outbreak spreads in South Korea. The country has so far confirmed more than 2,000 cases of the novel coronavirus, by far the largest national total outside China, the origin of the disease. "We regret to announce" that the Seoul concerts have been cancelled, BTS agency Big Hit Entertainment said in a statement. How BTS shot a ‘top secret’ video in Grand Central Terminal The four concerts, scheduled to take place between April 11 and 19 at Seoul's Olympic Stadium, home to the 1988 Games, were expected to draw "over 200,000" BTS fans. It was "impossible at this time to predict the scale of the outbreak", it said, creating uncertainty over the movement of staff, equipment and fans, making the cancellation "unavoidable", it said. The move came after the boy band held a press conference to promote their new album in an empty hall on Monday because of the virus. BTS -- or Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts -- are the first K-pop group to top charts in the United States and Britain. Their latest album "Map of the Soul: 7", released last week, was the most pre-ordered South Korean album of all time, with more than four million copies sold before its release. kjk/slb/qan Agence France-Presse
NEW YORK — The video clip of BTS, the South Korean boy band, performing at Grand Central Terminal is only 6 minutes long. But it took almost 2 months to arrange for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” to film the K-pop group dancing beneath the celestial ceiling inside the iconic train station. BTS is wildly popular, a singing and dancing global phenomenon with millions of fans and dozens of awards. Last year, their music video for the song “Boy with Luv” generated 74.6 million views in 24 hours, a record. How did they manage to pull off filming inside a busy transit hub that welcomes about 750,000 visitors every day? Timing is everything. The “Tonight Show” production team approached Metro-North Railroad, which runs Grand Central Terminal, to schedule a time to shoot last December, said Meredith Conti, manager of special events for Metro-North Railroad. Once the day, Feb. 8, had been agreed upon, the crew of about 180 members, including dancers, a marching band, camera operators and members of the production team arrived to set up at Grand Central Terminal at about 10 p.m. “It’s Saturday so it’s a much quieter time,” said Catherine Rinaldi, president of Metro-North Railroad. She added: “We are over the moon about how successful this has been.” The terminal, home of the MTA Metro-North Railroad and a subway station serving the 4, 5, 6, 7 and S lines, was still open as usual (it closes at 2 a.m.) But it was the weekend, when traffic is not as heavy, said Conti, who has overseen hundreds of productions in her 14 years on the job and was present the day of the shooting. “I’ve seen quite a few,” Conti said. “This was pretty cool.” It was a “top secret” mission to keep BTS hidden. The backup dancers and the marching band stayed in Vanderbilt Hall and the North West Balcony rooms rehearsing while the crew set up their multiple cameras, Conti said. Then, at about 12 a.m., RM, Jin, SUGA, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — the members of BTS — got to the terminal, which remained open. It was important that the public not catch a glimpse of the K-pop group members because their appearance on “The Tonight Show” was a surprise. “They were not in the public areas while we were still open,” Conti said. “It was top secret.” It wasn’t until 2 a.m., when the terminal had officially closed to the public, that BTS set foot on the main terminal floor. They had 2 hours to nail the perfect video clip of “ON” from their new album, “Map of the Soul: 7,” before the terminal’s cleaning staff came in to wash the floors. The doors would open to the public again at 5:15 a.m. Jimmy Fallon and BTS rode in a special subway. The episode, which aired Monday night, also featured a #FallonAsksBTS segment in which the seven members of the group rode the subway with Fallon while answering some of the questions their fans, also known as the army, posed on Twitter. “Can you ask BTS, when they make a song, what comes first, the melody or the lyrics?” Fallon asked the group on behalf of a fan. The segment was filmed inside an R160 subway car two days after the Grand Central Terminal video, said Sarah Meyer, chief customer officer with the New York City Transit. Fallon’s team had contacted the agency in December, Meyer said. But this was no regular commute: The train used for the segment is no longer operational but is rented out for special events, including TV and film productions, as well as training, Meyer said. “It was moving while the cameras were rolling,” Meyer said. Two train operators, one on each side of the train, were in charge of transporting Fallon and BTS back and forth along a track from a Bowery platform to a Canal Street platform. The shoot, which was eight hours, took place on a recent weekday afternoon, Meyer said, but they managed to keep it secret, too. “We wanted to keep the number who knew about this to a minimum,” Meyer said. “It was kept quiet.” You, too, can shoot a video at Grand Central. Every year, the staff of Grand Central Terminal accepts 20 to 30 large-scale production requests from TV and film companies, Conti said. Movies with scenes filmed inside Grand Central include “Men in Black II” and “The Proposal.” The location has also been used for music videos like “Carry On” by Fun and “Legend in Your Own Time” by Carly Simon. Productions are usually scheduled for the weekend or overnight, avoiding rush hour and aiming for times when service does not have to be disrupted, Conti said. Small-scale productions, like wedding shoots or student films, which do not require more than one camera or additional support from her office, usually take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., outside rush hour. Conti said that her staff grants about 500 of these requests per year. The Terminal does not allow any recording from late November to late December, when traffic is heavier because of the holidays, Conti added. (If the price is right.) “The Tonight Show” did not film inside Grand Central for free. The Terminal charges a labor fee that includes staff used to supervise the production, electricians, on-site safety and customer service representatives, as well as a rental fee for the space, Conti said. She declined to comment how much Fallon’s show paid for the BTS shoot. “The Tonight Show” also paid to rent the special subway. “We were really excited about this one because we do believe that Jimmy Fallon and BTS bring diverse communities together and that’s exactly what New York City Transit does as well,” Meyer said. “There is good synergy.” But back to the rental fee: When the MTA wrote a message to BTS and Jimmy Fallon that read, “Thanks for riding with us” on Twitter, one person replied, “Take the money they gave you and fix the damn trains.” source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEOUL -- K-pop superstars BTS were releasing their new album Friday, breaking records even before it came out as the country's most pre-ordered album of all time, with its lead single the first track to make its debut on video app TikTok. BTS -- or Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts -- have gained a huge global following, becoming the first K-pop group to top charts in the US and Britain with a string of sold-out shows in Los Angeles, Paris and London's Wembley Stadium. Their latest effort, "Map of the Soul: 7", was launching worldwide at 6 p.m. Friday South Korean time. The digit is a reference to the number of members in the band, and the years since they made their debut. The group rolled out a 30-second preview of lead single "ON" exclusively on TikTok Thursday, momentarily causing the short-form video app to crash. They are the first band to introduce a single via TikTok, and the snippet offered a challenge titled #OnChallenge -- where fans were invited to use the sound to create their own videos. More than 33,000 videos were made using the track by Friday morning, including fans dancing and reacting -- in places including classrooms. "Guys I'm so excited and nervous and probably gonna skip a few minutes of my biology lesson and listen to Mots: 7 at the toilet," one fan posted on Twitter. The song "ON" is "like a diary of our past seven years," BTS member RM told Apple Music. "We stumble from time to time but we got back up... It's like a declaration that we have admitted our destiny." The collection is already the most-preordered South Korean album of all time, with more than 4.02 million copies sold. "We did expand our musical spectrum," RM said, on the group's remarkable career since its debut. "In 2013 we had a performance in front of 300 people, 500 people. But now we are doing stadium tours, so everything's got bigger and happier." Another Twitter fan posted: "Finally it's coming and I'm so proud of Bangtan. We will break records again and we will be even stronger together." But one dark cloud on the band's otherwise stellar horizon has emerged: a high-profile concert initially scheduled for March 8 in Daegu has been cancelled due to the novel coronavirus outbreak in the city. Agence France-Presse
MANILA -- Members of the K-pop group Seventeen arrived in Manila on Friday for their one-night concert. Seventeen is set to perform at the Mall of Asia Arena on Saturday, February 8, as part of the band's “Ode to You” world tour. The hashtag #MaligayangPagdatingSVT became a top trending topic on Twitterin the Philippines as fans uploaded photos and videos of their arrival. Seventeen last performed in Manila in September 2018 as part of its “Ideal Cut” tour. source: news.abs-cbn.com
SEOUL - Wearing bright bow ties and dark dress, a group of South Korean women belt out song after song about the joy and stigma of being gay - part of a growing clamor for LGBT+ rights in Asia. "Unnie Choir" sang about their struggles at a sold-out concert in the socially conservative nation, where homosexuality remains taboo despite rapid economic advances in recent decades. It is part of an expanding network of LGBT+ choirs across Asia, which use song to fight discrimination in a region where progress on gay and transgender rights is slow. "Through singing, we're saying homosexuality exists. We just want to be ourselves," said Chung Ui-jung, the music director and conductor of the 15-strong choir. "Singing has the power to change," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation backstage after the concert, attended by some 70 people in a cozy venue in the capital Seoul. Homosexuality is not illegal in South Korea, which in 2003 ended its classification as "harmful and obscene". There is growing public acceptance of LGBT+ relations and annual gay pride rallies attract thousands. Yet discrimination remains widespread and gay people suffer hate crimes, according to campaigners. Conservative lawmakers are also pushing to end protections for sexual minority groups. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a Catholic widely seen as a liberal, has come under fire for refusing to legalize gay marriage although he also said discrimination against LGBT+ people is not acceptable. Unnie Choir, founded in 2012, hopes its unconventional method of campaigning can help turn the tide. SISTERS Unnie - named after the Korean word for "sister" – meets weekly to sing songs, their own compositions among them. It holds an annual concert, performs at human rights events, and has been described as the "K-pop for queer" – derived from the term used to describe wildly popular Korean pop music. Their repertoire ranges from ballads to acapella, hymns to pop songs, sometimes mocking prejudices against gay people. But they also take on other social issues: cyber bullying and feminism, or why South Korean women prefer to stay single. "It's my first time to see their performance but they are fun and engaging," said Seo Hee-jeong, a 31-year-old straight woman who said she was drawn to the social-justice messages. The choirs are seen as taking a gentler stance than many activists on LGBT+ rights, an issue that can ignite hostility in Asia among conservative political or religious groups. Hence their growing appeal. There are more than 30 such groups in Asia - in places as diverse as China, India, Japan and Taiwan - according to Proud Voices Asia, an umbrella group for LGBT+ choirs. LGBT+ rights are mixed across Asia. India decriminalized gay sex in 2018 and Taiwan last year became the first place in the region to allow same-sex marriage. But similar drives for gay marriage in China and Japan faced stiff opposition, with social conservatism holding sway. In South Korea, gay sex between soldiers is a crime under military rules that can result in a two-year prison term - although homosexual acts are not criminalized for civilians. G-Voice, South Korea's first gay choir, said the groups help LGBT+ people forge a sense of unity, especially in places where open social interactions are difficult. G-Voice began in 2003 so gay men could share their coming-out stories and support each other through song. "Coming out is a big decision for many gay men, we collect their stories and turn them into songs. It becomes easier when we're together," said its music director Jun Jae-woo. BLOOD IS THICKER Like elsewhere in Asia, the pressure to marry the opposite sex and continue the family blood line is strong in the east Asian nation, prompting many to hide their sexual orientation. South Korea also has one of the world's top suicide rates and Jun said he has lost gay friends to suicide, calling for legal reforms to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination. The 49-year-old expects anti-LGBT+ sentiment to surge in the run-up to what promises to be a tight legislative election in April, and predicted no major progress on LGBT+ rights. "We have the conservative forces who are influential, homophobic voices will continue to be loud," said Jun, a doctor who came out in his teens. Chung from Unnie Choir struck a more optimistic note. She believed growth in LGBT+ choirs showed wider acceptance, and was confident her group could one day become as popular as other world-famous K-pop icons. But in a sign of slow progress, Chung - a magazine editor who knew she was attracted to women from a young age – is still not prepared to come out to her parents. "It is something that is hurtful to them. Maybe one day I will come out to my parents, but I haven't found the courage yet," said the 30-year-old. Agence France-Presse
SEOUL - A South Korean court sentenced a K-pop musician to 6 years in prison on Friday for raping a woman and distributing a video capturing the act in a case that drew attention to the darker side of the country's lucrative entertainment industry. Jung Joon-young, 30, was arrested in March. Choi Jong-hoon, 30, a former member of South Korean boy band FT Island, was also sentenced to 5 years in prison for the rape of the woman. Both were members of online chat groups that shared secret sex tapes and made jokes about drugging and raping women, the Seoul Central District Court said. Jung's conviction also includes the illegal distribution of other videos he took secretly while having sex with women. The identities of the victims were suppressed to protect their privacy. The court also sentenced each man to 80 hours in "sexual violence treatment" education. "The defendants are well-known celebrities and friends, but the chat they've had showed that they simply considered women as objects of sexual pleasure, and committed crimes that were extremely serious," Judge Kang Seong-soo said as he handed down the verdict. "Strict punishment is inevitable as the damage inflicted has not properly been recovered and the victims demand harsh penalties." Jung admitted distributing the video and others he took, though he argued the sex was in all cases consensual. Choi denied raping the woman, and had argued that he did not remember having sex with her and that if he had, it was likely consensual. Lawyers for Jung and Choi could not be reached for comment. Their case was one of several scandals involving sex crimes and other illegal activity that revealed a dark side of an industry at the center of the global K-pop craze. Lee Seung-hyun, a former member of K-pop group Big Bang better known by the stage name Seungri, is also on trial over accusations he paid for prostitutes for foreign businessmen to drum up investment in his business. source: news.abs-cbn.com
South Korean singer-actor Ong Seong Wu, who rose to popularity as a former member of the boy band Wanna One, is coming to the Philippines in February 2020. Ong, 24, will hold a fan meet at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on February 25, local concert promoter DNM Entertainment announced Monday on its social media pages. Tickets range from P2,500 to P10,500 and will be available on all TicketNet outlets nationwide starting Dec. 8, according to DNM Entertainment. A pre-selling event will take place at the Gateway Cineplex Lobby in Quezon City on Dec. 7. In 2017, Ong represented his agency, Fantagio Entertainment, in the second season of the hit Korean survival show "Produce 101," where he finished in fifth place and landed a spot as a member of Wanna One. Ong visited Manila in October 2017 and September 2018 as part of Wanna One, which disbanded in January 2019. Last July, Ong made his acting debut with the Korean drama "At Eighteen." source: news.abs-cbn.com
Members of the Korean boy group BTS will not be exempted from mandatory military service, as the South Korean government aims to limit military exemptions. According to a report from The Korea Herald, the Korean government announced a new amendment to its military service law. Lee Nam-woo, chief of the Defense Ministry’s personnel welfare office, said the government would reduce the quota for military exemptions and enforce stricter conditions for eligible sports and arts personnel. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon also explained that the government needs to reduce military exemptions due to controversies in the system, including the country's low birthrate and fairness of the system, among others. Under South Korea's Military Service Act, all able-bodied Korean men are required to serve the military for about two years. Exemptions may be offered to qualified athletes and artists, such as those who bring home gold medals at the Asian Games or the Olympics, and artists who win high honors in international competitions. Fans have criticized the exemption system for excluding musicians, such as BTS, who has topped international music charts. South Korean performers such as Psy, whose 2012 hit "Gangnam Style" became the first video to top a billion views on YouTube, have previously broken into Western markets, but none have achieved BTS' sustained success. — with a report from Agence France-Presse source: news.abs-cbn.com
