Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum (2-L) reacts alongside members of the South Korean K-pop group BTS during a visit to the National Palace in Mexico City on May 6. Photo by Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA
May 29 (UPI) -- On May 20th, as BTS conducted the American leg of its world tour, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee was holding a confirmation hearing for Michelle Park Steel, the nominee for U.S. Ambassador to South Korea. With sensitive bilateral issues and North Korea policy on the agenda, the atmosphere was tense.
Then Senator Bill Hagerty -- widely regarded as one of President Trump's closest congressional allies -- turned to the nominee and mentioned that his daughters were looking forward to attending a BTS concert. American media reported that laughter broke out in the hearing room.
Why would the daughters of one of America's most prominent politicians want to attend a BTS concert? They were surely not hoping to obtain tickets through the soon-to-be ambassador to Seoul. Yet in Hagerty's offhand remark, one could sense something genuine: the pull that BTS exerts not on his generation, but on his daughters'. What is it they are seeking?
The answer came, unexpectedly, from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. Standing before the Mexican ARMY -- BTS's fan club -- assembled in front of the National Palace, she took the microphone and offered her reading of the phenomenon. "Friendship and peace, love, and a humanistic message of beauty," she said, "have captivated the younger generation."
