As a Korean from an older generation, I’ve always enjoyed BTS. I wanted to share a short essay I wrote on my blog about how these young men helped me understand our history.
For a long time, my phone ringtone has cycled through BTS songs like “Butter” and “DNA.” I liked their music. But truth be told, my appreciation for them went deeper than just enjoying an upbeat melody.
The turning point came when I met a college friend for the first time in forty years. He had emigrated to Canada decades ago. Over tea, our conversation naturally drifted to Korea. My friend said something that caught me completely off guard.
“You know, these days, I don’t even have to explain where Korea is. Everyone already knows.” “Really? How so?” I asked. He smiled. “Because of BTS.”
That short sentence lingered in my mind. I realized my affection wasn’t just about the music.
What struck me was the attitude behind their global fame. Success often changes people, yet BTS carried theirs with humility, responsibility, and sincerity. Watching global fans voluntarily clean concert venues and lead charity campaigns, I realized people were responding to something deeper than pop music—they respected the genuine sincerity these young men showed to the world.
Not long ago, I saw a video of a massive crowd in front of the Mexican Presidential Palace, chanting their names. The strange sense of pride I felt finally answered a question I had carried in my heart for decades.
In my youth, I remember reading “My Desire” by Kim Koo, a revered Korean independence leader. He famously wrote that his ultimate wish was for Korea to become a nation of “high culture.” To a younger me, living in a country then struggling with poverty, his words felt utterly detached from reality.
Back then, I believed a nation’s strength lay strictly in industrial growth, economic wealth, and military might. Culture seemed like a luxury. But as the years have passed, I am finally beginning to understand his vision.
If Samsung planted Korean products in the markets of the world, BTS has planted the dignity of Korea in the hearts of the global community.
The “power of high culture” Kim Koo desired was never about military dominance or the brute force of money. It was about spreading a benevolent influence—becoming a nation that earns a kind of respect that money simply cannot buy.
A casual remark from a friend in Canada traveled through a crowded plaza in Mexico, and finally connected with the words of an old statesman written nearly a century ago. The younger version of myself missed the point entirely. Forty years later, I have found a different answer.
I now know that the power to move people through respect lasts far longer than the power to move them through fear. And perhaps that is what Kim Koo was dreaming of all along. BTS simply helped me see it.