The huge fan base of popular South Korean pop group BTS is evident after their plea for the group to donate in support of the "Black Lives Matter" campaign, was answered. In a recent report on TIME, the K-pop group follows the footsteps of their co-artists Blackpink as they donate $1 million to the cause in support of the protests.
Over the weekend, the record label of BTS, Big Hit Entertainment confirmed this donation, which was mostly inspired by fans who sent them messages wishing that they garner their assistance for the campaign.
Their fan base, known as the ARMY which stands for "Adorable Representative M.C. For Youth" carried out online protests on behalf of the movement, along with other fans of other K-pop groups, the report added.
Condemning violence
"We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I, and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together."
This is the official statement from the group, composed of Korean singers Jungkook, SUGA, V, J-Hope, Jin, Kim Seok-Jin, Jimin, and RM. Many cities in the world are presently organizing protests to cry against racial injustice and other issues.
The activism of the fans in collaboration with these artists reportedly started on May 31 after the statement from the Dallas police, requesting for help from the public. The Dallas police stated, "If you have video of illegal activity from the protests and are trying to share it ... you can download it to our iWatch Dallas app. You can remain anonymous."
BTS fans
The fans of the singing group are active in responding to these statements. One of the fans who own the Twitter account @7soulsmap tweeted:
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This is part of the call to action targeted to the pop group, among many other tweets and social media posts from the fans. It was re-tweeted more than 25,000 times and liked by more than 45,000 users.
Many fans followed suit, flooding the Twitter account of the Dallas police with responses, GIFs, videos, and memes featuring BTS. When they downloaded the iWatch app, technical glitches happened.
More K-pop fans also flooded and glitched the portal of Grand Rapids in Michigan, posting videos of protests and footage of the demonstration. Truly, this event has become a major trending phenomenon on social media. The featured hashtag was #WhiteLivesMatter, filling photos and videos of K-pop stars.
The fanbase of BTS and other K-pop groups is massive, especially online. Media outlets such as Good Morning America and GQ once made a feature of their online presence, including taking over the Internet to fight various causes.
"If you're unfamiliar with K-pop, try to think of what it would mean for 'fans of popular American music' to be a group," R.O. Kown wrote for Vanity Fair magazine.
BTS' current album is titled Map Of The Soul: 7, featuring music that includes Intro: Persona, Black Swan, On, Outro: Ego, and more.