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How We Middle-Aged Korean ARMYs Deal with Negative BTS Treatment by the Korean Media Another week well spent working and being thankful for these things: the opportunity to teach young people, the changing colors of the sky during sunrise and sunset, blue skies streaked with cotton-like clouds, distant mountains washed in deep green, blooming trees, and the simple comfort of good food, drinks, music, art, and books. Earlier this week, one fellow ARMY asked me how middle-aged Korean men who love BTS respond whenever the group receives unfair treatment from the Korean media. As I’ve written before, we are generally not the loud, publicly performative type. We are not usually the “look at me fighting for BTS” crowd. Much of what we do happens behind the scenes, pun fully intended. Whenever BTS receives unfair backlash, many of us go directly to the major Korean news portals like Naver and Daum, where most Koreans actually consume news. We leave comments under the articles, pushing back against misleading coverage or unfair criticism. Over the years, I’ve personally written many comments myself and have even called companies directly when I felt they crossed the line. And then, of course, we talk amongst ourselves in the online communities we belong to. When the SUGA incident and the negative Gwanghwamun reporting happened, many middle-aged Korean men in our communities spent days criticizing the Korean media and discussing how to push back against misinformation. International fans sometimes assume all discourse happens on X, Instagram, or TikTok, but most middle-aged Koreans barely use those platforms. Our conversations happen mostly inside Korean community forums and portal sites. Ironically, over the past month, as BTS’s tour success has become impossible to ignore, the overall atmosphere in Korea toward BTS has actually been overwhelmingly positive. I know there has been backlash and discourse in certain corners overseas, but inside Korea, public sentiment has largely been pride and admiration. There was, however, one amusing little controversy recently. Dong-A Monthly magazine, a conservative political monthly (most of its readers are men over 60), published a BTS feature and somehow forgot to include Jimin on the cover, which understandably caused outrage among ARMYs. But I suspect the old fools at the magazine simply had no idea what OT7 means in the BTS fandom universe. To them, it was probably an innocent design mistake. To ARMYs, however, leaving out one member is basically an invitation to collective warfare. Let’s just say those folks have probably now learned an important lesson about BTS fandom culture after receiving countless emails and phone calls from both K-ARMYs and I-ARMYs. Anyway, despite occasional blunders like that, I truly believe Korea has moved beyond the period where BTS faces constant large-scale backlash domestically. The members are now viewed by much of the public as national cultural figures. There will always be isolated hostility here and there, but overall, Koreans are deeply proud of BTS and what they achieved. Below, I want to share a glimpse of how we talk about BTS in our online communities. Here’s a capture of comments regarding RM’s articulate response to the misinformation that spread about four years ago when BTS temporarily paused group activities to focus on individual projects. I translated the Korean comments into English, and I think you can clearly see the respect and admiration many Korean middle-aged people have for RM.

Get ready, ARMY scholars! 💜 The stage is set for the 5th BTS Global Interdisciplinary Conference, & we want to hear your voice! ​We are officially diving into "The Next Generation Hallyu & BTS." Whether you’re an academic researcher or a dedicated fan-scholar, this is your chance to share your insights in the heart of South Korea! 🇰🇷 ✨ ​📝 Call for Papers (CFP): https://t.co/xHbqhnV7ip ​⏳ Deadline: February 28, 2025 (KST) ​🗓 Conference Date: July 2–3, 2026 ​📍: International Convention Center, JBNU (Jeonbuk National University), Jeonju, South Korea 🔗https://t.co/mPumkHVI1P

😭 RIP 🕊️ Kim Young Dae (48) has passed away on Christmas Eve. The cause of his death has not been disclosed. 
He was one of the critics who stood by BTS and consistently supported them. 
He passed away at such a young age, which makes this loss even more heartbreaking. 
It’s truly a waste to lose someone like him, one of the few critics who openly supported BTS. This article was posted just 27 minutes ago. Article 🔗 https://t.co/ZBREBHRoOG One of his famous interviews speaking proudly about BTS 🔗 https://t.co/t7SdZ6yEQ5