Bangtan Boys becomes first K-pop artist with own Twitter emoji

Idol group Bangtan Boys (BTS) has become the first South Korean artist to start a Twitter emoji campaign, its management agency said Friday.

Twitter Korea launched it earlier in the day to allow fans from all over the world to communicate with one another during the boy band's ongoing Asia tour, Big Hit Entertainment said.

The emoji appears when #BTS or #방탄소년단, the group's Korean name, is typed, and will only be available from Friday to June 22.

BTS was chosen among scores of other K-pop artists because of its "global popularity" on Twitter, American music website Billboard reported Thursday, local time.

Only a select group of users has been bestowed an emoji campaign, including "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Justin Bieber and the NBA All-Star Games, the website added.

BTS currently commands more than 22 million followers on the social media website.

Its group selfie posted during the 2015 MelOn Music Awards in South Korea became the most viewed tweet in the country with 2.9 million views.

Its latest album "Young Forever" entered the Billboard 200 at 107th earlier this month, the group's second time making the list.

BTS most recently performed at Olympic Park in Seoul last weekend and will hold a total of 13 concerts in Taiwan, Macau, China and Japan starting June. (Yonhap)