The BTS book: fandom, mental health and beyond

Happy 10th anniversary to BTS! In this episode, we dove into the BTS book "Beyond the Story” (translated by Anton Hur, Claire Richards and Slin Jung) which has been taking bestseller lists by storm around the world. 

We sat down with Dr. Areum Jeong, an assistant professor of Korean Studies at Arizona State University and K-pop expert, about her TCK roots, ARMY fandom, how BTS changed the industry and their impact on the conversation about mental health in Korea and more.

Stay tuned until the end for a Korean book recommendation from one of our listeners, Faye from the UK! Faye is based in London and also runs a website about Korean pop culture that you can check out here: https://fayefromlondon.co.uk. 

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com. 

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast 

Intro: ♪ Onion (Prod. by Lukrembo)

Outro: ♪ Wine (Prod. by Lukrembo)

00:17 Happy 10th anniversary BTS!

01:28 Introducing Areum

02:31 Areum’s thoughts on the BTS book

04:31 How BTS changed the K-pop industry

07:37 What sets Army apart from other fandoms

09:08 Korean Wave & the Korean diaspora: How being Korean got cool

12:14 Army’s influence beyond K-pop

15:37 “Without fans, there is no K-pop” 18:37 Why you see K-pop idols on bus and subway ads

21:44 BTS’ contribution to the mental health conversation23:18 K-pop idols & the pressure to always look happy27:06 Areum’s book on K-pop fandoms

29:30 Being a K-pop stan

31:21 What’s an interesting Korean word/phrase you’d like to share?

33:27 A Korean book pick from our listener Faye