Bangtan Sonyeondan [방탄소년단], better known internationally under the initials BTS, visited America on May 31st to meet with President Joe Biden and discuss Asian inclusion, representation, and diversity. They also spoke on anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination. The visit was coincided with President Biden signing an executive order to reestablish the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) people and signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law. BTS’s visit also celebrated the last day of AANHPI History month.
The visit started with a White House press meeting, after a brief introduction by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, BTS members began to speak in turns. Kim Nam-joon (김남준), better known by his stage name RM, was the first. RM is the only BTS member fluent in English and is the group’s leader, this is why he is often the first to speak at important events like this. He said, “Thank you, Karine, for your kind words. And hi, we’re BTS. And it is a great honor to be invited to the White House today to discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion, and diversity.”
Kim Seok-jin (김석진) known by his nickname Jin, the oldest member of BTS, spoke next, “Today is the last day of the AANHPI Heritage Month. We join the White House to stand with the AANHPI community and to celebrate.”
Park Ji-min (박지민), spoke next. Jimin said, “We were devastated by the recent surge of hate crimes, including Asian American hate crimes. To put a stop on this and support the cause, we’d like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again.”
Jung Ho-seok (정호석), stage name J-Hope, said: “We are here today thanks to our A.R.M.Y. – our fans worldwide – who have different nationalities and cultures and use different languages. We are truly and always grateful.”
ARMY is the acronym for BTS fans, standing for “Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth”. It’s from the more ‘bad boy’ style early BTS had. Fandoms having official names is pretty common throughout the K-Pop industry. When you join the BTS fandom you’re ‘recruited’ into army. Occasionally army is called ‘purple army’ to avoid confusion with the military. Purple is from the famous “I purple you.” quote by V. Essentially a promise to love the fans from a language pun. This is why the color purple and the purple heart emoji is so heavily associated with BTS.
Immediately after J-Hope spoke Jeon Jung-kook (전정국) spoke. Jungkook said: “We still feel surprised that music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world, transcending languages and cultural barriers. We believe music is always an amazing and wonderful unifier of all things.”
Min Yoon-gi (민윤기) know by the stage name Suga (and by the stage name Agust D for his independent work) said, “It’s not wrong to be different. I think equality begins when we open up and embrace all of our differences.”
Kim Tae-hyung (김태형) known by the stage name V said, “Everyone has their own history. We hope today is one step forward to respecting and understanding each and every one as a valuable person.”
Then RM spoke again, “And lastly, we thank President Biden and the White House for giving this important opportunity to speak about the important causes, remind ourselves of what we can do as artists. Once again, thank you very much.”
All non RM quotes are, of course, a translation done by the on-site translator immediately after the members spoke. After the translation the members were ushered out to the Oval Office to have their discussion with President Biden. In the short video released by the White House as a teaser for the full discussion, BTS walked across the lawn RM spoke for the group telling Biden, “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. President.”
“Well welcome to White House, com’on up here guys.” Biden invited them in. His voice continues as the footage fades to BTS sitting in the Oval Office in front of Biden. “This is an impotent month here in America. A lot of our Asian Americans friends have been subjected to real discrimination. Hate only hides,” he points towards BTS, “and when good people talk about it it goes down. So thank you.”
RM speaks, he’s not nervous but he is speaking carefully, “We want to say thank you, sincerely, for your decision like such as signing the Covid 19 Hate Crimes Act into law. So we just want to be a little help and we truly appreciate the White House and the government’s trying to find solutions.”
“People care a lot about what you say,” Biden begins, “and what you’re doing is great for all people. It’s not just your great talent, it’s the message you’re communicating. It matters.”
The video then ends on the White House logo.
BTS being chosen for such an impressive opportunity is a wonderful reminder of just how far they’ve come since their debut. With multiple UN speeches on youth advocacy and self appreciation they are uniquely qualified for this. Hopefully their messages of love and unity alongside a plea to stop violence against Asian & AANHPI people finds its way into the hearts and minds of those who need to hear it.
LeAnne McPherson
Reporter