South Korean President Moon Jae-in congratulated K-Pop super idols BTS for their historic win in the recently held 2021 American Music Awards.
The group bagged three awards, including the most prestigious and biggest trophy of the night "Artist of the Year". It is the first time that an Asian artist has won in this particular AMA category.
On November 23. Jae-in sent big congratulations and gratitude toward the Bangtan Boys for their daesang (grand) award at the AMA.
In his congratulatory message the president said that in October this year, the Center for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS), which is the global think tank of the United Sates held an unprecedented conference that revolved around the topic of South Korea's Soft Power.
At the event, Joseph Nye, who created the concept of soft power, praised South Korea and said the country was the world's most dynamic soft power. Nye also said that South Korea, with its vibrant democracy, was exhibiting remarkable economic success.
According to Jae-in, Nye's words meant that the culture of South Korea is dominating the world, which is also a demonstration of the country's strength in its diplomacy and national character.
The fact that BTS won the grand prize at the 2021 AMAs confirms what Nye said, the president added in the congratulation note. He went on to say that earlier, the news of this conference was only partially reported. The reason why he was bringing up the topic once again was due to his sudden recollection of Nye's words.
According to Nye, the president added, in the last 60 years, even though there has been no nation more successful than South Korea, many Koreans feel they are weak and have been left behind others. This thought process, subsequently, influenced the Korean people's creativity and optimism.
But from now on, especially with success stories such as BTS winning historic awards, isn't it worth gaining pride and confidence, Jae-in added lastly.
The Bangtan Boys dared to break through language barriers in 2014 and took on the western music industry. They now hold six No. 1 US hits, despite only one member being fluent in English.
The group's superhit track "Butter" is the longest-running No. 1 song on Billboard's Digital Song Sales and Hot 100 chart in 2021. In addition to being big winners at the 2021 AMAs, the boys also dominated the 2021 Europe Music Awards by winning four trophies, which was the maximum number of awards won by any artist at the 2021 EMAs.