BTS will be awarded the 2020 Van Fleet Award for their contributions to US-Korea relations

[satoori]

BTS To Receive James A. Van Fleet Award From The Korea Society

“BTS, wins the US Van Fleet Award, another history written with music"

BTS will be one of the recipients of the James A. Van Fleet Award this year, a prestigious award given by The Korea Society since 1995 for contributions to the promotion of U.S.-Korea relations.

Global Superstars BTS, an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan (방탄소년) or "Beyond the Scene," is a South Korean boy band that has been capturing the hearts of millions of fans globally since their debut in June 2013. The members of BTS are RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook. Gaining recognition for their authentic and self-produced music, top-notch performances, and the way they interact with their fans, the band has established themselves a global superstars breaking countless world records. While imparting a positive influence through activities such as the LOVE MYSELF campaign and the UN 'Speak Yourself' speech, BTS has mobilized millions of fans across the world (named ARMY), topped prominent music charts, performed multiple solo-out stadium shows across the world and has been named as one of TIME 100: The Most influential People of 2019. The baand has also been recognized with numerous prestigious awards like the Billboard Music awards and American Music Awards.

BTS will be presented with the award at The Korea Society’s 2020 Annual Gala on Wednesday, October 7, which, the organization has announced, will be held virtually due to health and safety concerns surrounding COVID-19.

Previous recipients of the award include former United States president George W. Bush in 2017, SM Entertainment’s Lee Soo Man in 2012, former UN Secretary-General and former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon in 2004, and many more.

Spoiler

List of past recipients:

1995 – Chulsu Kim (Deputy Director-General, World Trade Organization)
1996 – Ambassador James T. Laney (U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea)
1997 – Pyong-Hwoi Koo (Chairman, Korea International Trade Association)
1998 – Jong-Hyon Chey (Chairman, SK Group) and Jeong H. Kim (President, Carrier Networks and DNS / Lucent Technologies)
1999 – William J. Perry (former U.S. Secretary of Defense)
2000 – Jimmy Carter (former U.S. President)
2001 – Kim Kyung Won (President, Institute of Social Sciences)
2002 – Horace G. Underwood (Director, Yonsei University)
2003 – Raymond G. Davis (Retired General, United States Marine Corps)
2004 – Ban Ki-Moon (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Republic of Korea)
2005 – George H.W. Bush (former U.S. President)
2006 – Lee Kun Hee (Chairman, Samsung)
2007 - Kim Dae-jung (former President of the Republic of Korea) and Houghton and Doreen Freeman (The Freeman Foundation)
2008 - Kevin O'Donnell (First Country Director, Peace Corps Korea) and Don Oberdorfer (Chairman, U.S-Korea Institute)
2009 - Chung Mong-koo (Chairman, Hyundai Motor Group) and Henry Kissinger (56th Secretary of State, The United States of America)
2010 - General Colin Powell (65th Secretary of State, The United States of America) and General Paik Sun Yup (Korean War Veteran, Military of South Korea)
2011 - Korea-U.S. Business Council accepted by Hyun Jae-hyun (Chairman of Tongyang Group) and U.S.-Korea Business Council accepted by William R. Rhodes (Senior Vice Chairman of Citigroup and Citibank)
2012 - Robert H. Benmosche (President and CEO of American International Group) and Han Duck-Soo (former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea) and Lee Soo Man (Chairman and Founder of S.M. Entertainment)
2013 - Ambassadors Ahn Ho-Young and Sung Kim on behalf of Korean and U.S. diplomats who have strengthened the 60-year alliance from 1953 to 2013
2014 - Marillyn A. Hewson (Chairman, President, and CEO of Lockheed Martin) and Yongmaan Park (Chairman of Doosan Group)
2015 - Ho Youn Kim (Founder of Kim Koo Foundation Chairman and CEO of Binggrae Co., LTD)
2016 - Kwon Ohjoon (Chairman and CEO of POSCO)
2017 - George W. Bush (former U.S President) and Chey Tae-won (Chairman and CEO of SK Holdings)
2018 - Sohn Kyung-Shik (Chairman of CJ Group)
2019 - The Boeing Company and Yang Ho Cho (Chairman and CEO of Korean Air)
2020 - Charles B. Rangel (Congressman and Korean War Veteran), Salvatore Scarlato (President of Korean War Veterans Association and Korean War Veteran), Yongmaan Park (Chairman of Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry), BTS (Global Superstars)

 

(sources: soompi, the korea society, naver, charts_k)

 

Congratulations BTS!

Edited August 8, 2020 by satoori
updated links

[satoori]

 

[Stepkdramafan226]

Awwww Congrats  So proud. So so proud!!

[Archer2006]

Nice! But how in the world did a war criminal, Bush, win this award????? I don’t remember him promoting Korea. I DO remember the numerous war crimes he committed though. 

[satoori]

2 minutes ago, Archer2006 said:

Nice! But how in the world did a war criminal, Bush, win this award????? I don’t remember him promoting Korea. I DO remember the numerous war crimes he committed though. 

i was curious

found this: http://keia.org/korean-legacy-president-george-hw-bush

[Archer2006]

2 minutes ago, satoori said:

i was curious

found this: http://keia.org/korean-legacy-president-george-hw-bush

Spoiler

Okay. Now that was interesting. That was around the time the US was “nurturing” other countries. They basically were “helping” them in the silent understanding that they wouldn’t be a threat to the US. Like “I’ll help with this issue as long as you remain in the shadows depending on my ‘good will’ “. It backfired with China and Russia because they became super powers with nuclear options. What makes the US think they have any right to order the behavior of other countries when they can’t even behave better than a toddler? Also that UN support for NK was also just another way to control them in to behaving the way the US believed was “acceptable”. 
 

I don’t believe for a second he was earnest about a reconciliation between the two. IMO he wanted the CREDIT for it. He wanted to be remembered as a hero for it and not the war criminal he is. He reminds me of Trump so much. Doing these big gestures for photo ops and credit. 

 

[satoori]

1 hour ago, Archer2006 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

Okay. Now that was interesting. That was around the time the US was “nurturing” other countries. They basically were “helping” them in the silent understanding that they wouldn’t be a threat to the US. Like “I’ll help with this issue as long as you remain in the shadows depending on my ‘good will’ “. It backfired with China and Russia because they became super powers with nuclear options. What makes the US think they have any right to order the behavior of other countries when they can’t even behave better than a toddler? Also that UN support for NK was also just another way to control them in to behaving the way the US believed was “acceptable”. 
 

I don’t believe for a second he was earnest about a reconciliation between the two. IMO he wanted the CREDIT for it. He wanted to be remembered as a hero for it and not the war criminal he is. He reminds me of Trump so much. Doing these big gestures for photo ops and credit. 

 

Spoiler

lol i guess everyone have their own perspectives. And it seems someone(s) in Korea thought he deserve this award due to what he did from a Korean perspective. i too was surprised to see a us president here ><..

 

[car door guy]

Congratulations

[Brightsun]

Congratulations

[Y U A]

Congrats BTS ! They really deserve it !