美国国家公共电台 NPR--For BTS fans in South Korea, there's resignation as the band takes a break

For BTS fans in South Korea, there's resignation as the band takes a break

Transcript¹

TOKYO — When South Korean boy band BTS announced its decision last week to take a break, it sent shock waves through the music world and sent the band's management company's stock prices tumbling.

And thanks to BTS's frank criticism of their own industry — something that few of their colleagues are free to do — it has cast a spotlight² on the inner workings of the K-pop hit-making machinery³.

Last week, the band released a video through their management company, in which they explained their need to pause.

"After 10 years of living as BTS and working on all our schedules, it's physically⁴ impossible for me to mature anymore," said BTS frontman Kim Nam-joon, also known as RM. He added that he had lost sight of what kind of band BTS is, and what stories they want to tell.

Singer Jeon Jung-kook, 24, the youngest member of BTS, assured fans in the video that they can look forward to the day when the seven band members return.

"We're each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things," he says. "We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now."

After the BTS news broke, stock prices for HYBE — the band's management and production company, talent agency and record label — dropped by 25% and have not recovered. That will affect BTS members too, as they hold HYBE stocks.

The group previously⁵ took a break in 2019, but just for a month and not all band members were involved.

The decision this time — their management company denies it is a hiatus — comes at the height of the band's global popularity. Last year, BTS had four of the top 10 bestselling digital hits in the U.S. They addressed the United Nations. They've been nominated for two Grammys. This year, they visited the White House and met with President Biden.

"They're doing so much for this generation," says BTS fan Fernanda Bedin, 30, on a visit to Seoul from Las Vegas. "They've always been honest with us, and I guess that's why we'll do everything for them."

Many fans are aware that BTS members will have to fulfill⁶ at least 20 months of military service. Under South Korean law, pop stars and athletes whom the government considers to have burnished⁷ the country's reputation may defer⁸ service until age 30. BTS members range in age from 24 to 28.

Bedin notes that other boy bands, such as One Direction, have gone on hiatus and never returned. But fans say they can relate to the artists' need to grow and find new inspiration.

"Since they've been part of my life for a long time, it feels like I've grown with them," says Swedish college student Rachel Borromeo, also visiting Seoul. "And growing as a person is never bad, especially if it helps you search for your identity."

Part of the problem, Kim explained, is the K-pop industry's grueling production schedule.

"The problem with K-pop and the whole idol⁹ system is that they don't give you time to mature," he said in the video, in which the band members talked, laughed and sometimes cried over a table full of food and drink. "You have to keep producing music and keep doing something. After I get up in the morning and get my makeup¹⁰ done, there's no time left for growth."

In the K-pop industry, "it's fair to say that artists work on the company's schedule, not on their own schedule," says CedarBough Saeji, a Korean and East Asian studies professor at Pusan National University who teaches a course on K-pop.

"There's a huge crew working behind the scenes writing new hits, preparing the music videos, choosing the costumes, all of that," she says. "And so it means that many artists, particularly recently debuted¹¹ artists, don't have very much control over their career at all."

Some critics of K-pop, Saeji says, unfairly point to this mode of production to denigrate¹² a "factory-made" industrial product, despite its quality, creativity and popularity.

Many aspiring¹³ K-pop stars are recruited at a young age and go through rigorous training, which, unless they score a commercial hit, can leave them deep in debt. Occasional scandals involving sexual abuse and cyberbullying have tarnished¹⁴ the industry's image.

BTS members' criticism of their own industry has not generated much surprise, perhaps due to their previous history of social justice activism, including a $1 million donation to Black Lives Matter and speaking out against anti-Asian hate crimes at the White House.

But not every K-pop band is at liberty to speak out the way BTS has. That's because BTS' immense success puts it in a class by itself, and because of the controlling nature of the K-pop industry.

"The tradeoff that a lot of K-pop artists are making is that in exchange for a chance at worldwide fame, they give up a lot of control over their own life," says Saeji. "They may have a lot of things that they want to express, and depending on the management companies that they're working with, they aren't given as much freedom to express their own ideas as they would like."

Even as BTS has been outspoken¹⁵ about racial justice in the U.S., its members have not engaged in activism on similar issues in South Korea. They've been silent, for example, on a push to pass a domestic anti-discrimination law which would protect minorities.

Whether or not BTS members reunite in future or go their separate ways, they've already reached the pinnacle¹⁶ of their profession and made their mark on South Korea's global image. Even so, they're confident that, as they sing in a new song, their "best moment is yet to come."

NPR's Se Eun Gong contributed to this report in Seoul.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

7 burnished   

adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光

参考例句：

• The floor was spotless; the grate and fire-irons were burnished bright. 地板上没有污迹；炉栅和火炉用具擦得发亮。 来自辞典例句
• The woods today are burnished bronze. 今天的树林是一片发亮的青铜色。 来自辞典例句

8 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

9 idol   

n.偶像，红人，宠儿

参考例句：

• As an only child he was the idol of his parents.作为独子，他是父母的宠儿。
• Blind worship of this idol must be ended.对这个偶像的盲目崇拜应该结束了。

10 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

11 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

12 denigrate   

v.诬蔑，诽谤

参考例句：

• It was unkind to denigrate her achievement.贬低她的成就是刻薄的。
• To assert this is to denigrate the effectiveness of the police.坚持这一点就是贬低警方的办事能力。

13 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

14 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

15 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

16 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。