The visit of BTS to the White House is a bright example for all K-pop idols

As he flicks through a touchscreen tablet, President of the United States Joe Biden remarks, “I decided I’d make you feel at home.” The phrase, spoken at his trademark leisurely tempo, is likely to have been delivered countless times to world-changing dignitaries and leaders. But on a beautiful Tuesday last week, his audience was a bunch of twenty-something idols known as BTS—all dressed sharply in suits, letting out a surprised cry of ecstasy as the chorus of their smash track “Butter” filled the Oval Room’s renowned walls.

This is only the latest in a long line of significant events that have marked the boy band’s stratospheric rise in mainstream music. The septet, which includes RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and JungKook, is frequently, and maybe unjustly, connected to metrics. The headlines are self-explanatory: BTS is the first Korean music group to be recognized internationally at the Grammy Awards! BTS’ ‘Dynamite’ breaks the Guinness World Record for the fastest video to reach 10 million views in under 20 minutes! According to reports, BTS contributes $3.6 billion to the South Korean economy!

Many have sought to decipher the levers that control the band’s unfathomable success, including Harvard Business School’s top brains, who published an in-depth examination of the band’s global appeal. However, describing BTS’ success just in terms of chart-topping singles and other arbitrary figures does a disservice to the work they’ve done to move the tectonic plates under the highly structured, and sometimes predatory, K-pop idol business.

In a viral performance for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, a new wave of idol recruitment or a cult craze will shut down New York’s renowned Grand Central Terminal. The video would go on to receive 57 million views, demonstrating the group’s global appeal both at home and abroad. The band’s success is empirical proof indicating the public is willing to hear what youthful stars have to say by choosing to intentionally walk away from the glossy lacquer of perfection promoted by the K-pop business. And if they can negotiate the vicissitudes of celebrity without losing sight of their values, the President of the United States may be listening.