Since their debut 2013, BTS has remain always in talks for their intense expressions and stunning choreographies. The most famous K-Pop group has remarked their titles as “K-Pop Golden Boys” due to their hardwork and discipline they show.
Yet, time passed and BTS became the sensational band to take the K-pop to the other countries worldwide. But RM the leader of the group is one in particular, who has gained praise from ARMYs worldwide.
RM has gained popularity for his unrivaled talent, charming charisma, dimple smile, for his english that he learnt by watching friends and the ability to be the perfect leader.
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K-Pop idols seemingly have a lot of restrictions on what they can talk about or how they can portray themselves on certain topics. BTS RM has broken that barrier with a new unfiltered interview with the Spanish publication El País.
Many publications have to send questionnaire beforehand to HYBE for the approval to ensure the interview is suitable or not. As netizens believe it can sometimes lead to quite a generic angle from the questions.
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Although BTS always answers perfectly, ARMY knows how insightful the members are and love hearing them talk about more in-depth topics that showcase their intelligence. RM likes to spoke more about general topics on the group, including ARMY and showcasing just how much he loves his members.
In particular, the discourse in his answers across various publications proves that no matter what could have happened, he wouldn’t ask for anything other than being in BTS.
RM’s love for BTS isn’t new, and his love has always been appreciated. His answers on the broader topics of a culture caught the attention and praise of ARMY.
But, besides of gaining love from ARMY, the group and especially the leader has different aims and goals to achieve too.
So the publication El Pais, wanted to get real with RM about the misconceptions about K-Pop. For many locals (those who don’t know about K-Pop), they see netizens and K-Pop fans as “young and obsessed teenagers.”
In one question, the publication asked whether the traits seen from fans along with those idols are expected to uphold traits of Korean culture. RM hit back at the harsh and blunt question, calling out those in the West and defending Korea and the country’s history.
When asked whether the K-Pop industry is dehumanizing! He answered maturely. Rather than shut down the question or give a simple answer, RM admits that the company hasn’t always liked how he answers it. Yet, it wasn’t due to his actions but the way the Western media like to portray K-Pop. He acknowledged there are issues, but also the changes made over the years.
On asking, How they feel about being under the category of “K-Pop” implying that their fame is seemingly above the roots where they started. RM also hit back at those claims, with netizens believing that his desire to use the “K” prefix showcases his love for Korea only.
Many idols do shy away from more controversial topics and try to cover them up, but RM answered them directly and showcased his vast knowledge of global issues. He even got real about the “issues” many have about K-Pop, and how they are shaped by those who aren’t even involved in the industry.
ARMY have always known and praised how eloquent and passionate RM is, this interview has proved that. It seems as if RM wasn’t afraid to share his unfiltered answers to some extremely blunt and controversial questions compared to those seen in the past.
RM's recent interview with El País, one of the most noted news mediums in the Spanish-speaking world, consisted of insightful questions to the BTS leader, and Spanish-speaking fans were generous enough to share it with others by providing English translations.
One specific part of the interview attracted the most attention, and it is where RM boldly hit back at the West’s perception of South Korea and K-Pop in general.
Talking about his experience as a trainee and then a successful figure in the K-Pop industry, RM was asked if straining hard work and an aim for picture perfection is one of the traits of Korean culture.
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"This worship of youth, of perfection, of overstraining in K-Pop…Are these Korean cultural traits?" —RM’s Interviewer, El País
To this, RM answered that the West lacks the subjective perspective to understand why certain countries like South Korea put so much emphasis on hard work. He explained, “Korea is a country that has been invaded, devastated, torn into two. Just seventy years ago, there was nothing.” RM continued recalling the past and pointed out how Korea was dependent on aid from the IMF and the UN just a few decades ago. But the country’s global status quo shifted quickly, and now the “world is looking at Korea.”
This swift change in fortune didn’t happen magically. RM pointed out that it directly resulted from “people..working f*cking hard to improve themselves.” The desperation to build back a country that was left with nothing is not easy to understand for cultures who have not experienced it first-hand. That is why “people in the West…,” he noted, “…just don’t get it.”
"You are in France or the UK, countries that have been colonizing others for centuries, and you come to me with, ‘Oh God, you put so much pressure on yourselves. Life in Korea is so stressful. ‘ Well, yes. That’s how you get things done." —RM, El País
This is what, according to RM, gives K-Pop its charm too. Though he was honest to admit that “everything that happens too fast and too intensely has side effects,” he doesn’t agree with the way K-Pop is often portrayed as a manufactured phenomenon. In the following question, the interviewer asked him what he considers the biggest prejudice about K-Pop. He answered, “That it’s prefabricated.” In another part of the interview, he also directly called out how even a partial admission about the K-Pop system’s hardships often gets twisted and exaggerated into some dark conspiracy theories.
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Interviewer: Does the system dehumanize?RM: My company doesn’t like how I answer this question, because I admit it in part, and then the journalists throw up their hands saying, “It’s a horrible system, it destroys young people!”—El País
RM has always been eloquent in his interview, he was unprecedentedly unfiltered in this one. This new level of openness and honesty has taken fans aback so much that this interview has set social media abuzz with conversations around it.