K-Pop Group BTS Is Seducing America, And We've Weirdly Got China To Thank For It

K-Pop Group BTS Is Seducing America, And We've Weirdly Got China To Thank For It

By Rachel Premack, Forbes, Nov. 17, 2017

Members of South Korea music band BTS pose on the red carpet of the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong on December 2, 2015. (Photo credit: PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A squad of charming, mischievous Korean fellows has officially put America under the K-pop spell. BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys, will perform at the American Music Awards on Sunday, and will make the rounds at “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “The Late Late Show with James Cordon” and the like.

They’re causing a major ruckus already. Before BTS’ performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Wednesday night, hordes of fans reportedly camped out for days. "We were gonna send the band outside [to meet the fans], but the police and the fire department and our lawyers said at least 100 people would be killed if we did that," Kimmel joked on air. "They're very enthusiastic fans."

BTS has hordes of adoring American fans who have long dreamed about them having this impactful American presence. There’s Vitty Cottingham, a 24-year-old landscaper who lives in Dallas, Texas. He told Billboard that, during his first BTS concert, “I felt my heart stop five or six times during the concert, I had to check my pulse to make sure that I was breathing. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life, only third to getting married and second to being a father.” Then there’s more fanatics yet surrounding groups like TWICE and Big Bang.

Despite all this, there were only seven K-pop concert tours in 2013, 14 in 2014 and 2015, and 20 in 2016, CNN reported in May. There’s already been 15 tours by Korean music groups this year, along with a slew major Korean artists playing SXSW and KCON. For many groups, like SHINee, SEVENTEEN and 24K, it’s their first stateside tour.

American fans of Korean K-pop group BTS hold up portraits as they appear on the red carpet during the K-CON 2014 (Korean Culture Convention) at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on August 10, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON

Overall, 2017 is set the be the most K-poppy year in the U.S. of all time. More Korean concert tours are on track to come to the U.S. this year than ever before, said Flowsion Shekar, who is the CEO of popular K-pop site Koreaboo.

Why is this year different?

Why is this year different from all the other years? Stateside K-pop fanaticism is on the rise as always, but it still hasn’t quite cracked into mainstream consciousness.

Thank China. Experts are pointing to Beijing’s backlash against THAAD, the U.S. missile system that was installed in South Korea this year. The Chinese government saw THAAD as a security threat when it was installed in July 2016, and later outlawed Korean cultural imports to China, including new Korean television and music. Tourism companies were banned in March from organizing group excursions to Korea.

Suddenly, K-pop concerts were banned in the world’s largest country, and second-largest economy.

This photo taken on September 12, 2013 shows South Korean pop star G-Dragon on comeback stage at Mnet Countdown in Seoul. Starnews/AFP/Getty Images

"China is South Korea's biggest trading partner and many Chinese are big fans of Korean pop culture," said Ellen Kong, CEO of Elf Asia, a Hong Kong promotion company specializing in K-pop, in an interview with CNN earlier this year. "But the impact of THAAD has been substantial," she added, referencing China's staunch opposition to the U.S.-backed missile shield now housed in South Korea. "It's meant China is no longer a viable market for K-pop touring acts."

Korea and China did agree to end their diplomatic strife last month, but the chilling effect on Korea-China economic relations won't go away so quickly. Chinese music, like the Shanghai-based girl group SNH48, has become increasingly popular thanks to the outlawing of K-pop.

A record year for touring in America?

For that reason, Korean music executives are looking to Americans, Canadians, Europeans and Australians, as well as across Latin America, to fill the gap China left.

"With groups unable to tour in China due to the fallout relating to the THAAD crisis, I believe we're going to see another record year for groups touring across the U.S. this year," said CEO of Koreaboo, Flowsion Shekar, a popular content platform specializing in K-pop with a reach of over 50 million.

South Korean K-pop group 'Twice' pose on the red carpet of the '2016 Asia Artist Awards' in Seoul on November 16, 2016. ED JONES/AFP/Getty Images

Luckily, that task won’t be utterly impossible. China accounted in 2015 for 12% of sales for SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s largest entertainment companies and the masterminds behind Girls’ Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet and others. Japan provided 40% of monies, while the U.S. and Southeast Asia shared 10% of sales, The Korean Economic Daily reported in January.

K-pop is the already the genre of choice throughout Southeast Asia and East Asia. They’ve supplanted local stars in several countries, thanks to the industry’s fondness of releasing songs in Chinese and Japanese as well as recruiting non-Korean group members. Musicians are increasingly learning English, as well.

Eric Nam meets his fans at KCON 2014 - Day 2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena on August 10, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)

Korean music had a major moment in 2012 with Psy’s “Gangnam Style.” However, Psy wasn’t able to achieve lasting success in the U.S. after his viral video.

BTS, though, could be another story. For Maureen Flores, a 55-year-old in Southern California, she said BTS has brought her closer with her daughter, who plans to study Korean and music at university. They often watch live streams of 20-something-year-olds. "They know you're watching to see that they are human too," she told me. "They break things, get mad, curse, and live life too. It sort of looks like your own life, but they've got music and talent and motivation and genius, and they are willing to share it with you. And hope that maybe you too can find your inner voice, your own genius, your hidden talent. Or you can just enjoy the fact that these talented people can sing for you, can speak for you, can empathize with your pain too."

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