In K-pop this year, it has been mostly a battle between the returning Big Bang, EXO, and Bangtan Boys (BTS). When it comes to making a statement, Big Bang probably has that detail down, given the fact their hit “ Bang Bang Bang ” made it to the iTunes Top 100 U.S. chart. Overall success probably goes to EXO, thanks to the fact their managerial team is trying their hardest to make the K-pop group an international name . Such promotion has already given EXO the honor of their music video for “Call Me Baby” being the most-watched out of all K-pop music videos.
BTS, on the other hand, seems to have issue after issue, despite their popularity. Earlier this year, the K-pop group had to cancel their second anniversary fan meet-and-greet because of the MERS outbreak. Now, BTS had to cut short their concert in NYC and cancel their fan meet-and-greet afterwards. The reason is because Rap Monster, one of the members of BTS, allegedly received murder threats.
This is surely a sad situation for both BTS and their fans, given the fact this is the K-pop group’s first tour that they made stops in the United States. From what is reported by Billboard , the BTS concert held in the Best Buy Theater in New York City was cut short after social media started to show alleged threats towards Kim Nam Joon, who is known as Rap Monster in the K-pop group. The threats were using the concert’s official hashtag, #BTSinNY, and had pictures of people touting guns.
The two Twitter accounts that showed the threats, glamgiri and blueblossom, have since been deactivated. However, some Twitter users were able to take screen captures of the threatening tweets before they went down.
@SDelgadillo2013 @Jeff__Benjamin another one: pic.twitter.com/FwwclpSRnS
— Claudia ? ? ? (@KpopMx9) July 17, 2015
The threats were taken seriously enough to even cancel the fan meet-and-greet right after the concert. Still, the alleged murder threats may not actually be the Twitter account user’s fault. According to KpopStarz , one of the Twitter users who posted a threat claims he or she have been hacked . Nevertheless, he or she is paying the consequences for their Twitter account’s activity, as a number of BTS fans have sent hate messages.
As for now, BTS will continue on with their worldwide tour. They will be in Dallas, Texas, on July 18, 2015, followed by Chicago, Illinois, on July 24, 2015. Their final U.S. concert will be in Los Angeles, California, on July 26, 2015.
[Image via Bangtan Boys (BTS) / Big Hit Entertainment Promotion]
