K-pop superstars BTS speak out against anti-Asian hate at the White House on final day of AAPI Heritage Month
- Group was invited by US President Joe Biden and has previously spoken about climate change and Covid-19 vaccines at the UN
- The singers also thanked their fans, known as ARMY, for their support, saying music could unite people across languages and borders
Members of the K-pop band BTS speak during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington DC on May 31, 2022. Photo: TNS BTS’ latest dynamite move? Meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
All seven members of the superstar K-pop group – RM, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook and V – joined Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for Tuesday’s White House daily press briefing, during which they commemorated the final day of Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month by each making brief remarks about anti-Asian hate crimes, the importance of inclusion and their dedicated fan base.
“It is a great honour to be invited to the White House today to discuss important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion and diversity,” said RM, later adding “We thank President Biden and the White House and for giving this important opportunity to speak about important causes, reminding ourselves of what we can do as artists.”
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“Today is the last day of AANHPI Heritage Month. We joined the White House to stand with the AANHPI community and to celebrate,” added Jin, using the abbreviation of the month that also includes Native Hawaiians.
While RM delivered his remarks in English, the rest spoke in Korean with a translator.
The artists also took the opportunity to give a shoutout to their fans, known as ARMY.
“We are here today thanks to our ARMY: Our fans worldwide who have different nationalities and cultures and use different languages. We are truly and always grateful,” said J-Hope.
“We still feel surprised that music created by South Korean artists reaches so many people around the world, transcending languages and cultural barriers,” added Jungkook. “We believe music is always an amazing and wonderful unifier of all things.”
The band did not take questions from reporters. Following the press conference, BTS is expected to meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office to discuss “the need to come together in solidarity, Asian inclusion and representation, and addressing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination,” per the White House’s schedule. A video of the group meeting with the president will be available at a later time.
“Everyone has their own history,” said V. “We hope today is one step forward to respecting and understanding each and every one as a valuable person.”
“It’s not wrong to be different,” Suga added. “The quality begins when we open up and embrace our differences.”
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This marks BTS’s first time at the White House. Six of the band members arrived in the nation’s capitol on Sunday, save for Jungkook who arrived the day prior. Since then, the group has spent time visiting the monuments, dining out in the DC-area and going golfing and indoor skydiving, according to their social media posts.
The group’s visit is the latest of a slew of appearances by young stars the president has tapped to share messages from the White House. BTS has also previously addressed the United Nations in 2018 and 2021 on climate change and Covid-19 vaccinations.
“We were devastated by the recent surge of hate crimes, including Asian-American hate crimes,” Jimin said on Tuesday. “To put a stop to this and support the cause, we’d like to take this opportunity to voice ourselves once again.”
The K-pop icons have been vocal about anti-Asian racism on social media: “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together,” they tweeted last March using the hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.
Attacks on Asian-American communities have been on the rise amid the Covid-19 pandemic. There were upwards of 9,000 anti-Asian hate incident reports from March 19, 2020 to June 30, 2021, according to Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition created in 2020 to track and respond to incidents of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the US.
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The group reported a sharp increase in incidents, going from 6,603 to 9,081, between April 2021 to June 2021.
In response, Biden signed into law in May 2021 the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act to expedite the Justice Department’s review of hate crimes and designate an official at the department to oversee the effort. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
BTS recently began sharing their journey to K-pop stardom through a new Apple Music weekly limited series. The streaming service announced last week that BTS would launch their new show BTS Radio: Past & Present on Apple Music 1. The three-episode limited series will air weekly, leading up to the release of the band’s new album “Proof,” which arrives on June 10. The inaugural episode aired Saturday.