Hyooga 10,307 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Click here to view the Tweet How a South Korean boyband's international 'army' made feud number one global trend UK tweeters browsing Twitter this afternoon might have been surprised to notice a Korean hashtag among the hottest trending topics, nestled between Westminster news and John Motson’s retirement. The hashtag #엑스í¬ì¸ _ì „ì›ê¸°ìž_사과해 translates as “#Xports_apologize_to_BTS†- a reference to a feud between a South Korean news website and K-pop boyband BTS. Those unfamiliar with the K-pop scene may be surprised by how quickly the group’s legion of fans were able to propel their collective fury to the top of Twitter’s global trends, but they shouldn’t be. The boyband is “slowly taking over the world†says Time magazine, which included BTS on its list of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet. So who are they - and why are their fans up in arms? Who are BTS? BTS is a seven-member boyband founded in 2012 which has quickly become one of South Korea’s biggest acts. Their most recent album, Wings, sold more than two million copies, and their singles regularly rack up more than 100 million views on YouTube. BTS stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan, meaning “bulletproof boyscout†in Korean, but to their Western fans, the band is commonly also called Beyond the Scene. The group announced their new English name in July, in a move perceived by music critics as an attempt to expand their reach into the English-language market. The bandmates may look like typical clean-cut pop idols, but their sophisticated blend of K-pop and hip-hop has won critical praise, and the group has also been applauded for tackling subjects which remain taboo in South Korea, such as bullying and mental health. Why are they so popular? Their music may have won critical praise, but the main driver of BTS’s meteoric success is their deft use of social media, which saw them beat off Justin Bieber to be named Billboard’s Top Social Artist in May 2017. The band’s aggressive social media strategy began before the group had even released its first single, but the hard work has paid off in the form of eight million devoted Twitter followers, many of whom feel a personal connection to their idols. BTS’ fans call themselves the Army, which, in accordance with the slightly garbled English that characterises the fandom lexicon, stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth. Exact numbers of their international fans are hard to come by, but the US dates of their 2017 international tours sold out within minutes, Fuse reports. What is the Xports feud about? On 31 August, a marketing company CEO was convicted of attempting to blackmail Big Hit Entertainment, the agency which manages BTS. The blackmailer claimed to have evidence of illegal marketing practices used by the agency, AllKPop reports. Despite the court’s guilty verdict, articles alleging that Big Hit used illegal means to promote its acts, including BTS, have continued to circulate on Korean news sites - to the BTS Army’s fury. Korean news site Xports attracted the fandom’s especial ire for an article which hinted that social media manipulation might have been responsible for the band’s Billboard award. The Army has responded furiously, accusing Xports of timing their coverage deliberately to interfere with the success of the group’s much-anticipated new EP Love Yourself ‘Her’, due to be released on 18 September. Within hours of the hashtag first appeared on South Korean Twitter, it had become the number one trending topic in the world, used in more than 750,000 tweets around the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aliens-United 19,785 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Ahh, the irony of Korean media trying to smear the group's image while international and Western outlets are defending them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookiesjam 3,269 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 their homeland people screw them up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKKY 6,735 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Well that was ugly of them. Nice try tho but bts will continue to conquer the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceyla 1,168 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Get them y'all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balancetonquoi 4,707 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Wow! It went far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stepkdramafan226 6,734 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 #worlddominiation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
car door guy 11,500 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Korean tabloid embarrassing themselves on an international scale. Congrats, you just played yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiseLikeACrowTit 862 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Get them y'all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Versatile_fandom2832 158 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 😂 This is funny because ppl in their own country still be little them but this is what happens when you have a huge fandom backing you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DULSET 4,587 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Thats such a nice coverage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popandfresh 154 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 I've never seen a country so desperate to see one of their own fail just because they didn't debut from a big label. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gore 8,169 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 thankfully there was other kmedia that defended them but the shit with the first journalist and now this new one is just bonkers. twisting facts for their obvious smear agenda. disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivianss 5,682 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 It's embarassing. BTS's audiences and media attentions are wide and global, and to let them know about unprofessional journalism through this is embarassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASS 7,209 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Thats such a nice coverage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammydee 8,599 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 I don't know about the whole situation but good that it's been cleared, BTS have a very big fandom and has been proven many times already so I don't get why some still question that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pied Piper 1,144 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 It's embarassing. BTS's audiences and media attentions are wide and global, and to let them know about unprofessional journalism through this is embarassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
star1016 957 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Ah this is sweet!! Tho in fairness, there were also Korean articles published that defended BTS/Bighit. In fact there was even one that included this UK article as well as the tweet of one of Billboard's kpop writers (reminding everyone how they chose contenders and winners for the BB top social artist) showing the difference between Korean and international articles. I do hope this will serve as a lesson to that blasted writer (more like anti lol) and the company. All eyes will be on them when they write their next BTS article. I do hope that writer gets sanctioned or if possible, Bighit could take action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aliens-United 19,785 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 I don't know about the whole situation but good that it's been cleared, BTS have a very big fandom and has been proven many times already so I don't get why some still question that? Because, you know, it suits them to say we're 'everywhere' when they want to drag the fandom and call us annoying but the minute the ubiquity of ARMYs actually works out in BTS' favour, suddenly it's convenient for them to question the fandom's size and legitimacy. Suddenly, it doesn't make sense for BTS to gain that many votes or views or have such huge sales numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stranger101 3,238 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 All these happening just before the comeback, yet again lol. These people trying to bring them down probably know that this comeback is going to be huge and it'd be hard to stop bts. Well, bts and bh have a great relationship with the people they work with and it shows how many of them are coming to defend them rn. Anticipate the kings comeback <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Bear 9,471 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Read this earlier and was pleasantly surprised to see my country not flopping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypher cypher 452 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Ok ive read somewhere that bts might become t-ara2.0? They promote outside korea while koreans hate them. Koreans are scary tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akpheart 14,900 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Ok ive read somewhere that bts might become t-ara2.0? They promote outside korea while koreans hate them. Koreans are scary tbh That's BS. There were Korean writers defending them. There's just clearly some shady/corrupt journalists as well, and that's not just a Korean thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HB23 3,394 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Ok ive read somewhere that bts might become t-ara2.0? They promote outside korea while koreans hate them. Koreans are scary tbh this is just nonsense. please don't generalise a nationality like that. also there were way more articles defending BH/BTS than those 1/2 random slandering articles anyway. don't discredit the good journalists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PumpkinSpice 756 Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Wow, it's so nice that they introduced BTS and explained the situation so concisely and in a kind manner. I'm so happy the claims were refuted and put to rest so much faster this time. It was such a nice surprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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