“BTS Cannot Be Dragged Around” — Korean Government Is Bashed For Not Understanding That K-Pop Artists Need Time To Prepare For Performances
Former Presidential Secretary Tak Hyun Min recently called out a politician’s remark about BTS performing at the 2023 World Scout Jamboree.
On August 8, People’s Power Party assemblyman Sung Il Jong called on BTS, who was not initially on the list of performing artists, to perform at the K-Pop concert for the disastrous 25th World Scout Jamboree. He also stated that he was leading a bill to grant amnesty for BTS members in the army, saying, “I am asking the Ministry Of Defense to allow BTS to raise the prestige of the nation at the 25th World Scout Jamboree.”
The majority of K-fans and netizens criticized him for seemingly politicizing and “using” BTS to clean up the mess that the Jamboree organizers made. They also criticized him for failing to follow the proper procedure of obtaining consent or consultation with the artists, their agencies, and their schedules.
After receiving backlash, Sung Il Jong said that he invited BTS to perform at the K-Pop concert on August 11 because he believed it would be an “unforgettable gift” to attendees that leave them good memories of Korea.
He addressed backlash from ARMYs and explained why he wanted to grant amnesty for BTS.
I think ARMYs have misunderstood me. I think they are disappointed because we sent BTS to the military and are now asking them to save the Jamboree. To be honest, the politician who led a bill to grant amnesty for BTS was me. Because I understood the value of this treasure and because BTS are musicians who the nation can be proud of, I tried to afford them immunity.
— Sung Il Jong
In an interview with CBS Radio on August 10, Sung Il Jong also mentioned that he was not the only one to invite BTS to political events. He claimed that BTS was “everywhere” during the last Presidency term.
When the Democratic Party was in power, didn’t they bring [BTS] around everywhere? To the UN, the White House, and everywhere?
— Sung Il Jong
This statement irked Tak Hyun Min, which led him to post a lengthy message on his social media calling out Sung Il Jong’s remark. First, he took his stance by exclaiming that BTS is not a group that can be easily brought around everywhere.
BTS is not an artist who is dragged around by others. In fact, no artist should receive such treatment.
— Tak Hyun Min
He admitted that BTS was indeed involved in a lot of events during the last term like Sung Il Jong stated, but the difference was that these events were pre-planned and discussed.
During the previous administration, they received a lot of help from BTS. Despite BTS’s busy schedules, they made time and effort for the Paris special performance, the UN special video and speech, and even the first Youth Day. All these events were planned in advance, involving both the agency and the members in discussions, reflecting their opinions to determine the format, and required the dedication and hard work of various experts.
— Tak Hyun Min
Tak Hyun Min then explained how singers could not just be “thrown a microphone” and told to sing—artists need to be respected by being given sufficient preparation time.
For an artist to stand in front of the public, many preparations are necessary. Just throwing them a microphone and telling them to sing for the nation according to the number of members is not the way to go. They need to have not only practice and effort on their own part but also a stable stage, sufficient rehearsals, meticulous directing, and dedicated staff to be able to call them onto the stage. Only after having all these in place can we make requests of them.
— Tak Hyun Min
He called out Sung Il Jong’s act of demanding an artist’s appearance by calling it disrespectful—or an “act of violence.”
To disregard or omit the entire process of preparation and just demand appearances with force is not respectful. It’s an act of violence. If you don’t know how to consider and support cultural art and artists, when and how to make requests, and how to persuade, I hope you simply leave it be. It’s better just to leave them alone; it will be of greater help to them.
— Tak Hyun Min
Upon reading Tak Hyun Min’s brutally honest and critical post, netizens felt refreshed that someone was stating facts. They criticized the politicians for thinking lowly of singers and that this reflects how they may view civilians.
- “If they treat BTS like that, imagine how they view the general public..”
- “I want to print this out in large print and stick it on their foreheads”
- “Their attitudes towards singers are so different”
- “Will they even understand this post?”
- “Accurate”
- “For sure, someone who has actually worked would know… lol”
- “The government and the party are all the same. What era do they think they’re in, treating singers like they did in the past, when they looked down upon entertainers?”
- “I hate that they blatantly showed the mindset of, ‘The people below us should do what they’re told; they should say thank you.'”
- “Whew, I feel like I got it off my chest. This was very well-written”
- “They don’t have any understanding of the cultural arts. They think they can give them a mic on stage and tell them to sing and dance”
- “Everything he said is facts”
- “It really is violence. I keep thinking that they want attention and spotlight”
- “So true, so true. That was so refreshing”
- “They’re not treating singers or celebrities like humans.. They see them as tools that will come running to sing and dance when called upon.. Just don’t call the idols and tell Yoon Suk Yeol to go to Sangam Stadium and sing ‘American Pie’!!! He likes singing, doesn’t he? lol”
- “That’s what I wanted to say. He’s so good at speaking clearly”
- “Sh*t. Every sentence hit home hahaha”
- “This is the perfect picture of common sense vs. no common sense”
- “It’s not just BTS, but I could tell their view of idols is low. How lowly do they see singers as?”
- “It’s no different than North Korea”
- “Through the Jamboree event, they showed me what the government thinks of celebrities”
- “Facts. What do they see celebrities as?!”
- “I feel better reading this, but the people who need to read this probably won’t understand. Sigh…”
- “For real, it is violence”
- “BTS is not an artist who can be pulled around. Tbh, no artist should be treated that way.”
- “I agree it’s violence. I feel bad for the singers who were assigned to perform at Jamboree”
- “Honestly, this isn’t about how they view artists, but how they view citizens”
- “They must really think they’re royal or something.. they’re f*cking annoying”
Read Tak Hyun Min’s full post here.
‘When the Democratic Party was in power, didn’t they also bring them around everywhere?’
I earnestly hope that the level of comments from People Power Party assemblyman Sung Il Jong matches his personal level.BTS is not an artist who is dragged around by others. In fact, no artist should receive such treatment. It seems that Sung Il Jong takes pride in advocating for alternative services for celebrities, but BTS has never requested alternative services. As far as I know, their intention was to fulfill military service dutifully, and they are currently doing so. Furthermore, alternative services for celebrities should be discussed as a different form of military duty, not as a special privilege for celebrities. Talking about it as if he did it for BTS is only a statement that would perplex BTS.
For an artist to stand in front of the public, many preparations are necessary. Just throwing them a microphone and telling them to sing for the nation according to the number of members is not the way to go. They need to have not only practice and effort on their own part but also a stable stage, sufficient rehearsals, meticulous directing, and dedicated staff to be able to call them onto the stage. Only after having all these in place can we make requests of them.
During the previous administration, they received a lot of help from BTS. Despite BTS’s busy schedules, they made time and effort for the Paris special performance, the UN special video and speech, and even the first Youth Day. All these events were planned in advance, involving both the agency and the members in discussions, reflecting their opinions to determine the format, and required the dedication and hard work of various experts.
To disregard or omit the entire process of preparation and just demand appearances with force is not respectful. It’s an act of violence. If you don’t know how to consider and support cultural art and artists, when and how to make requests, and how to persuade, I hope you simply leave it be. It’s better just to leave them alone; it will be of greater help to them.
— Tak Hyun Min
