Members of the South Korean band BTS arrive at security check-in at the United Nations headquarters during the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, in New York, U.S (Photo : John Minchillo/Pool via REUTERS)
South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have made clarifications regarding a report that said the government did not cover BTS's activity expenses as special envoys in New York.
One of the leading daily newspapers in the country, The Chosun Ilbo, reported on September 30 that the government had not covered any of the K-pop band's expenses including food, lodging, and travel for their New York trip with President Moon Jae as special presidential envoys. According to the news outlet, the band went to New York for three days, accompanying the President, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee, and First Lady Kim Jung Sook, without receiving any special fee or travel allowance.
Following the publication of the report, a source from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism stated that after making checks it was found that the government had covered some of BTS's expenses during the business trip. The source added that the report, which mentioned that the expenses were not at all covered, was not true as the government had partially covered the expenses. They also mentioned that the details of the records were being further checked.
The Blue House representative also mentioned that the expenses were settled following the trip. The government and the agency had an advance agreement for settling part of BTS's travel and lodging expenses as envoys of the government. The source also said that the government was very grateful for BTS's activities as envoys.
A news source added that because BTS had also been invited as a separate entity from the government by the United Nations, only some of the expenses that were related to the band's activities with the President and the First Lady were settled by the Blue House.
BTS was appointed the Future Generations and Culture's Special Presidential Envoy in July this year. The K-pop sensation traveled to New York on September 18, after the UN formally extended an invite to BTS to share a speech at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) as youth representatives. The group delivered a speech at the Sustainable Development Goals Moment (SDG Moment) of the UNGA 76.
Meanwhile, the group has just dropped the music video of their collaborative track with rock band Coldplay. Titled "My Universe", the video has a futuristic feel and has already garnered 13 million views in 13 hours of release. The track has been sung in both English and Korean.
