South Korean President’s Remarks On BTS’s Gwanghwamun Stage Sparks Fury Among K-Netizens
On March 24, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung attended a Cabinet meeting and received a briefing from the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.
During the briefing, the President assessed BTS’s recent performance at Gwanghwamun Square.
It has played a truly significant role in promoting South Korea.
— President Lee Jae Myung
Minister Choi stated, “I think we enjoyed an immeasurable amount of benefits in that the attention of young people worldwide was focused on Seoul through the live broadcast. The number of tourists increased in March, and the number of visitors in their teens and twenties increased more than the average amount.”
They continued, “I think BTS’s performance was an important decision in promoting Gwanghwamun and South Korea. It was well-planned and executed well. Everyone worked hard and took care of safety issues, so it went through without any accidents.”
However, K-Netizens felt otherwise.
- “This is ridiculous…this is why people who don’t know anything need to stay out of it.”
- “The cost was huge compared to the effectiveness. It’s not just the money, but also the inconvenience people had to endure.”
- “What is this, the 80s? Who doesn’t know Korea?”
- “Putting aside the promotional aspect, controlling and checking everyone was really uncalled for. The event became boring, and citizens were inconvenienced. And what did the public officials do to deserve this? They should have just checked inside the fence area and let everyone else roam freely. The operating system for this was a complete disaster.”
- “‘Immeasurable effects’ LOL. Yeah, because it was a failure. Why are they happy about this? Please stay out of this and apologize for doing body searches.”
