"BTS는 문화현상" 국제포럼까지 열렸다<br /><br />Many have asked how the Korean boyband BTS became a global sensation.<br />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.<br />Won Jung-hwan reports.<br />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.<br />This is the first time a large-scale international forum has been held under the theme of a K-pop artist.<br />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.<br />"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."<br />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.<br />A local lecturer highlighted the significant role the BTS fan group ARMY have played in promoting the group through social media.<br />"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."<br />Another perspective brought to the discussion highlighted how the group is helping break down traditional gender roles.<br />"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."<br />The three-day forum will finish on Wednesday,… but similar topics will be discussed at the BTS Conference held in the UK next January.<br />Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.<br />
