- [Narrator] In a political climate as crazy as this one,
the most powerful speech at the United Nations
wasn't actually from a world leader
but from a KPop band, huh ?
We have the FAQs.
"I wanna hear your voice, and I wanna hear your conviction."
- [Narrator] That was Kim Nam Jun, a member of BTS,
one of the world's most popular KPop boy bands.
You might have seen them here, here, here,
here or even here.
- Hey Jimmy !
- Yeah !
- I'm Jimmy !
(laughs)
- [Narrator] But their most important appearance yet
was being the first KPop group to address the UN.
"No matter who you are, where you're from,
your skin color, your gender identity,
just speak yourself."
- [Narrator] Their simple, powerful message
has come a long way
and we don't just mean from South Korea.
To better understand the sub-genre in Korean music,
let's take you back to the 90's.
(upbeat KPop music)
The rising popularity of Korean dramas and KPop
was known as "Hallyu" or Korean wave.
But what made that wave swell into a global phenomenon
was the Internet.
("Gangnam Style" by Psy)
In fact, the first video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube
was Psy's "Gangnam Style" in 2012.
"Gangnam Style" may have seem like an overnight success,
but it takes much longer for KPop artists
to make it big.
Aspiring artists are usually scouted by
or auditioned for management companies.
If selected, they are groomed, mentored
and intensely trained from a young age by managers
or agents for years before recording their first song.
It's a formula used by many successful groups
and labels in the Western world.
Think The Temptations, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys,
The Monkees, Pussycat Dolls and more but much more intense.
The music is fun but it's no game.
KPop is a cultural force to be reckoned with.
Unlike rock music whose history is embedded in rebellion,
KPop's roots are more business-like.
The KPop industry emerged from the financial crisis
in the late 1990's when the South Korean economy tanked.
To rebuild, the government didn't just focus on
obvious sectors like manufacturing and tech,
they invested in entertainment.
As audiences grew, KPop became a major South Korean export.
Global sales for KPop-related music and video
grew to earn 5 billion a year.
And that's when it got political.
(yells in a foreign language)
In 2015, South Korea started blaring KPop music
across the border, toward North Korea.
Songs such as Apink's "Just Let Us Love"
and Big Bang's "Bang Bang Bang"
were played to entice the North
and also show cultural dominance.
In 2017, a North Korean soldier who dashed across the DMZ
and were shot five times by its troops
even asked to listen to KPop girl bands
while recovering in the hospital.
Candidates embraced KPop during South Korea's
presidential election in 2017.
Campaigns altered lyrics to popular KPop songs
and choreographed signature dance moves.
South Korea's current President Moon Jae-in for example
used "Cheer Up" by the girl band Twice as his anthem.
In North Korea, people were literally
being imprisoned for watching or listening to KPop
but recently there's been a breakthrough.
Kim Jon Un has admitted that he likes KPop music
saying he was deeply moved after
watching a 2 hour concert in Pyongyang.
The concert was the latest in a series of diplomatic moves
designed to ease tensions to the Trump and Kim summit.
Now we have Korean sensation BTS stepping up to the plate
to address the UN and the world.
Telling people to believe their own convictions and voices.
The seven -ember boy band joined UNICEF
in creating the LOVE MYSELF campaign,
building the belief that,
"True love first begins with loving myself,
I have many faults and I have many more fears
but I'm gonna embrace myself as hard as I can
and I'm starting to love myself gradually
just little by little."
- [Narrator] The reactions speak for themselves.
Maybe KPop can change the world after all.