"My biased view of BTS was completely wrong after seeing their concert," a progressive Korean-American author confesses to 'falling in love' with the group in Vogue [K-EYES]

*This content was translated by AI.

The American fashion and culture magazine Vogue featured an essay by a Korean-American author who honestly recounted her journey of becoming a BTS fan, drawing widespread attention.

Author Jezz Chung published an article titled "Confessions of a Former BTS Skeptic" in Vogue on the 15th, sharing her experience of falling for BTS during their Arirang World Tour held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas last May.

Jezz Chung is the author of the book "This Way to Change" and a podcast host. She is a very progressive writer who openly identifies as LGBTQ+ and has autism and ADHD.

She candidly revealed her initial skepticism, stating, "I accidentally obtained a ticket and entered the venue with no interest." She believed that "BTS is a machine designed to maximize profits, feeding celebrity worship with art, and artificially simulating intimacy."

Although she is Korean-American, her musical taste leaned toward early 2000s Atlanta and Houston hip-hop, and she held critical views on K-pop's issues with the appropriation of Black culture and the exploitation of trainee labor. However, her perspective changed once the concert began. "As I stopped analyzing, I became increasingly captivated. It was the first time I had seen a concert where, looking around among 60,000 audience members, I could see Asians everywhere. I felt a distinct sense of connection and community," she wrote.

Two weeks after the concert, she declared herself an ARMY. Jezz Chung analyzed, "What BTS sells is not just music. It is meaningful friendship, persistent effort toward shared dreams, recovery after conflict, mutual care, and a sense of belonging." She also highlighted that the album title 'Arirang' refers to a 600-year-old Korean folk song born from resistance against colonialism, noting, "Korea is a nation with a history of oppression and hardship. The fact that BTS proudly represents Korean identity and values and has gained global resonance carries deep symbolic significance."

Meanwhile, she did not abandon her critical perspective on K-pop. While honestly addressing issues such as the appropriation of Black culture, hyper-consumerism, and labor exploitation in the trainee system, she concluded that "the passion shown by BTS's ARMY points to the great truth that we are all connected."

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*This content was translated by AI.