"BTS는 문화현상" 국제포럼까지 열렸다

Many have asked how the Korean boyband BTS became a global sensation.
Well, to get some answers, an international conference is taking place right here in Seoul,... looking at BTS fandom... and also the content of their music and image.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
International experts from a range of fields are at the 'BTS Insight Forum' in southern Seoul this week to discuss K-pop group BTS, and their contribution to the world.
This is the first time a large-scale international forum has been held under the theme of a K-pop artist.
During the forum,... a lecturer who teaches Korean language and culture in the U.S. said the group's sincerity and the positive message of their songs is helping students around the world.
"It's hard to imagine how comforting and helpful it is to those minority students to just express themselves. BTS is teaching them how to express themselves in a language which it is not even their mother tongue."
BTS have more than 22-million followers on Twitter,... but the analysis of the group's relationship with their fans through social media looks beyond the numbers.
A local lecturer highlighted the significant role the BTS fan group ARMY have played in promoting the group through social media.
"ARMY fans always say they are a fandom that exists for good causes such as donations and charity,… because they have learned how to be a better person through BTS."
Another perspective brought to the discussion highlighted how the group is helping break down traditional gender roles.
"Boys learn not to cry for attention, boys learn to be silent. So I am interested in a way in which BTS express emotions, I will also suggest that it is a resistance hegemonic masculinity."
The three-day forum will finish on Wednesday,… but similar topics will be discussed at the BTS Conference held in the UK next January.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.