New Delhi

The South Korean government is aiming to find the 'Next BTS'. According to reports, the government reportedly plans to establish a ‘K Content Cultural Complex' with a 5 trillion won policy finance initiative. The aim is to find a new band similar to BTS and a 'second Parasite'.  

A recent report by Seoul Newspaper quoted the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, who drew major backlash for referring to the popular K-pop group currently serving in the military. The complex is slated to become a K Contents landmark by 2035.

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Finding Next BTS? Official receives backlash over remark

Boyband BTS has unprecedented popularity worldwide and its success has now prompted the South Korean government to focus on nurturing more talents in the K-pop genre. 

The 7 member K-pop band including Jin, Suga, Jimin, RM, Taehyung, J-Hope and Jungkook has played a big role in boosting the country’s culture and tourism. 

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Also see: BTS' Jin discharged from military service, gets warm welcome from band members

Highlighting the band's role as cultural ambassadors, the First Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Jeon Byeong Geuk, recently announced plans to back the growth of musicians, to emulate BTS's achievements.

“We will support the entire cycle of musician development for capable small and medium-sized agencies to discover the next BTS.”

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The official's comment, referring to BTS and its success, led to heated debate online. BTS fans, popularly known as ARMY, expressed outrage at the idea of emulating the iconic group. Others viewed it as an insult to other working K-pop bands, as they were being pictured as inferior because the "BTS standard" was established.

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The objective of the administration is to reach a content export target of $25 billion (around 34.5 trillion won) by the year 2027, as per the outlet. “The government announced the K Contents Strategy to Become one of the Four Global Powerhouses.”

“At this point, they are obsessed with finding the next BTS..There is no next BTS!!,” a user commented. 

A K-pop fan pointed out, “The fact they are still looking for the next BTS is a slap to the active Kpop groups because you are telling them that they failed to reach the "BTS Standard" and no matter what they do, it will never be good enough for the higher-ups and govt.”

South Korea's search for the 'Next BTS'

This isn't the first time where the concept of discovering the 'Next BTS' has been discussed in government circles since the group's growing popularity proved to be a major economic boost for the country. 

NASA's new voyage to have two BTS tracks and a solo track by RM 

In 2020, at a press conference, a journalist asked about the possibility of the "Next BTS." Jin and Jimin answered, “In fact, we would also need time to think about this. We used to think of our role models and desire to be artists. But by walking through our own path instead of following their directions, we could discover our own way. We believe in ourselves but also our next juniors.”