Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
BTS talks about fear, pressure
BTS held their official press conference at DDP in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
BTS is now a global sensation. The seven-member boy band is rewriting K-pop history every day. Their newest album “Map of the Soul: Persona” has already topped the most prestigious music charts in the U.S., U.K. and Japan. The album also topped the iTunes album charts in over 80 countries, including Canada and Singapore. Their latest music video “Boy with Luv” became the fastest YouTube video to reach 100 million views ― in less than 38 hours.
After successfully performing on “Saturday Night Live” in the U.S., becoming the first K-pop band to debut new material on the program, BTS headed back to Korea earlier this week for a press conference in Seoul to talk about their new album. During the conference, the seven members talked about their feelings of fear, and their gratitude to their fans as well as their new album and music.
“The more we grow in height, the longer our shadows become. It is not always that we are happy without any sense of burden or dejection,” said RM, the leader of BTS, during the press conference held at DDP in Seoul, Wednesday.
“The pressure is always there. Sometimes I feel scared of the spotlights and the audience. Sometimes I even feel like I want to run away. … But then I realize there is so much more that we'd like to achieve in this position. I receive so much energy from our fans. I cannot say I have completely overcome the fear, but now I have learned how to live with that. I am finding my balance between the precious support from the fans and the burden and weight.”
RM is not the only one feeling much weight on his shoulders. “It would be a lie if I say it's not a burden at all. I feel very much of a burden as of now. But to get rid of it, I am putting my best efforts into my music and performances,” Jin said.
As they have overcome the burden of being on top with the energy from their fans, it is natural that their new album is about love and gratitude.
“We want to talk about the power of love that has lifted us to where we are today. The power, the source and the strength of love is what this album is about. We want to talk about the love and strength our fans give us,” RM said.
BTS held their official press conference at DDP in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Collaborations with other international artists also drew attention. The lead song “Boy with Luv” features American pop star Halsey.
“Two years ago, we met Halsey at the Billboard Music Awards, and we had a conversation. We found we share many similarities in value and passion. We asked her about appearing on our album, and she said yes. She also joined us for a music video shooting in Korea. Despite the cold weather, Halsey enjoyed the shooting and coming to Korea, she had already mastered all the dance moves,” Suga said about the collaboration, saying she is a perfect artist who delivers rich and expressive emotions to listeners.
British musician Ed Sheeran also featured in the song “Make It Right.”
“Ed Sheeran contacted us. He is an artist that we enjoyed listening to and always wanted to work with together, so we were happy to say yes. The delicate sentimentality and heart-wrenching melody is highlighted in the song,” J-Hope said.
The group's lead singer Jungkook especially expressed his gratitude to the band's fan club, known as the ARMY.
“They are everything that created today's BTS. … We heard that many of the global ARMY received strength and comfort during difficult times in their lives with our music. We thought how great the power of music is, and the connection between ARMY and BTS has become even tighter,” Jungkook said.
BTS will be performing "Boy With Luv" live with Halsey at the Billboard Music Awards, May 1. They have also been nominated for awards in two categories, “Top Country Duo/Group Artist,” and “Top Social Artist.” BTS has won the “Top Social Artist” award for two consecutive years in 2017 and 2018.
“It will be great to win both categories, but I don't know if it is realistically possible,” Suga said. “But we want to win at least one.”
The sensational K-pop group will also kick off their world tour, starting May 4 in Los Angeles. Their tour will include Chicago, New Jersey, Sao Paulo, London, Paris and Osaka.
BTS posed for a photo during their official press conference held at DDP in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap