BTS

BTS finally announced that its members will enlist, with the group taking an extended hiatus until 2025. 

The mega-group’s management company said all members planned to complete military service as required by South Korean law – and they have already given their last concert before enlisting.

Korean entertainment, in particular K-Pop, has provided a unique opportunity for Seoul to improve its global standing.

American politics has historically leveraged music artists to expand the reach of political messaging.

BTS joining the Korean military is a compulsory obligation, one with increased meaning as tension builds on the Korean Peninsula and around the world.

With few exceptions, South Korea’s K-pop idols have been conspicuously silent on controversial subjects – including the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

K-pop offers something different to the nationalism projected by China and the territorial politics of exclusion. 

Socially conscious K-pop fans are demanding more from South Korean entertainment companies. Can this lead to meaningful adoption of environmental policies in the industry?

The North Korean regime’s repression of South Korean culture reflects a logic that equates foreign culture with a threat to the regime’s stability. 

How does China use nationalism in international brand controversies? And where are its limits?

On the battlefields of social media, conflicts between citizens of China and South Korea are increasingly common.