[EAI Working Paper] The Story of BTS's Global Appeal: BTS's Charm and the New Civilization of the 21st Century

Editor's Note

The East Asia Institute (EAI) launched the 'BTS Charm Theory' research team in September 2019. Ahead of the publication of the book "The Story of BTS's Global Appeal," which analyzes the BTS phenomenon from the perspectives of cultural sociology, communication studies, and international politics, we are releasing the second working paper series, "The BTS Phenomenon and Attractive Storytelling," as follows.

This study finds the core of BTS's appeal in the 'complex beauty'—an avant-garde of constructing a new civilization in the 21st century that seeks to rectify the limitations of modern civilization. The author emphasizes the civilizational weight of the messages conveyed by BTS and re-examines the contemporary value of the message of self-love and coexistence embedded in the hit song 'Fake Love'.

※ The following is an excerpt of the content. Please refer to the attached file above for the full text.

The Appeal of BTS

Since their debut in 2013, BTS has gained explosive popularity not only in Korea but also globally, growing with time. While global interest in Korean film, television, and music is not entirely new, BTS's popularity signifies the potential for a fundamental qualitative shift beyond mere quantitative growth.

To properly understand the essence of BTS's charm, which captivates young people worldwide, it is necessary to first examine the meaning of 'charm' itself. Charm originally refers to one of the many forces that make others follow you. Since the West began to dominate the modern international order, power has primarily compelled other nations or people to follow through force or wealth. As the United States, the leading power in the contemporary world order, has experienced a relative decline in military and economic power, it has begun to emphasize the importance of soft power, such as culture, values, and diplomacy, alongside hard power.

However, the East, much earlier than the West, dating back to antiquity, has been interested in the unique power of charm. The original meaning of charm is the power of a spirit to bewitch a person's mind. While force or wealth can make others follow even against their inner will, charm refers to the power of willingly following someone as if bewitched by a spirit.

Numerous discussions, both domestically and internationally, have sought to answer the question of what the secret is to BTS's bewitching charm, but a universally accepted answer has not been found. The closest to a consensus is the hybridity or complexity that BTS, a K-hip-hop idol group, exhibits. Their lyrics, melodies, and movements successfully weave together beauties found across East and West, ancient and modern, to mesmerize the world.

This answer only achieves half the success. While hybridity or complexity, when done well, can be more appealing and beautiful than conformity or simplicity, when done poorly, it can lead to alienation and dislike. Just as making delicious bibimbap requires good ingredients and proper mixing, the true charm of BTS lies not in simple hybridity, but in the beauty of complexity demonstrated as an avant-garde in the construction of a new civilization in the 21st century, seeking to rectify the limitations of modern civilization.

■ Author: Ha Young-sun_Chairman of EAI, Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University. He served as a senior advisor to the Presidential Committee for the Summits between the two Koreas and as a member of the Presidential National Security Advisory Group. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in Diplomacy from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in International Politics from the University of Washington. He taught in the Department of Diplomacy at Seoul National University (1980-2012) and was a visiting scholar at the Princeton University Center for International Studies and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. His recent works include "The Geopolitics of Love: War and Peace" (2019), "A Correct View of Korean Diplomatic History: Tradition and Modernity" (2019), "The Competition for Asia-Pacific Order Construction between China and the US" (2017), "The Korean Peninsula and the Four Major Powers in 1972 and 2014" (2015), "Ha Young-sun's Geopolitics Columns 1991-2011" (2012), "Theory of Complex Geopolitics" (2012), and "The Youth in History" (2011).

■ Contact and Editing: Jeon Ju-hyun, EAI Research Fellow

Inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 204) jhjun@eai.or.kr

[EAI Working Papers] are scholarly reports that identify and deeply analyze the core issues of major domestic and international affairs. Please cite the source when quoting. EAI is an independent research institution independent of any partisan interests. The claims and opinions expressed in the reports, journals, and books published by EAI do not represent EAI and are solely the views of the individual authors.