Resources

Those who follow the group BTS, one of the most popular of the genre, call themselves ARMY, there are tens of thousands all over the planet and have raised millions of dollars of money for social causes. How did an organized global fan base emerge that manages to shape trends on the internet?

BTS’ performance of their hit song “DNA” at the American Music Awards in 2017 in front of screaming fans marked the triumphant arrival of Korea as a producer of cool culture to mainstream American audiences.

The Korea Program at Stanford marks its 20-year anniversary with a conference focused on North Korean issues and South Korea’s pop culture wave (Hallyu), two aspects of Korea that continue to intrigue the public, exploring how to translate this public attention into an increased academic interest in Korea.

With Korean pop culture continuing to sweep the world, the South Korean government must now decide how it wants to leverage its world-famous idols to generate soft power.