About two months ago, we BTS ARMY were in the trenches fighting for Yoongi during the scooter incident. He dropped a scooter on its side, a kick board scooter with a seat like teens ride in the US. This was not a motorcycle or Vespa type but a lightweight little scooter. Not rehashing everything here but we ARMY fought Korean media who set out to destroy Yoongi's reputation with lies and misinformation (things I'm convinced they knew were lies but ran with anyway not anticipating the power of ARMY to call them out on it.) We fought and we protected Yoongi the best way we could and we did that alone.
Other Kpop fandoms either went silent offering no sympathy or they participated in the hate train against him making things worse. You see, I haven't forgotten the malicious fake ARMY TikToks they did encouraging drunk driving and pretending it was ARMY posting them. I haven't forgotten the pictures taken from Pinterest and the hashtags they trended on Twitter creating a fake Suga challenge. When Yoongi was being bullied and having death threats and wreaths sent and having fake forums set up online with fake fans pushing for him to leave the group, they didn't reach out. They didn't band together to shout loud for us. They joined in and laughed in our faces. Like bullies do.
"ARMY only has BTS and BTS only has ARMY" we said as we re-charted Agust D songs and made block lists to keep negativity off the timeline. We did a K-media blackout and forced some agencies to apologize (however half-assed these so called apologies were). Banners of support were put in front of Hybe and all over from International ARMYs showing love and support for Yoongi. A few individual celebrities showed support and Coldplay's massive fanbase of Coldplayers offered support and encouragement as did Brazilian Beehive. We got nothing from kpoppies but we didn't expect anything anyway so it came as no surprise. One thing we did say was this bullying is a major issue and if it can happen to us (BTS/ARMY) it can happen to you too (other Kpop groups).
Fast forward to now. We're right back in the trenches again. A whole new wave of hate trains started and it feels like deja vu with a little 'I told you so' thrown in. A mass malicious campaign to kick Seunghan out of Riize took place and however things went down, he's no longer an official member of the group. The same thing haters and (probably paid) malicious actors tried to do to Yoongi happened to Riize. Seunghan didn't do anything wrong to be kicked out and neither did Yoongi for them to call for his dismissal. But this mass bullying "worked" because SM didn't stand behind their artist.
Riize fans have called for ARMY to help and ARMYs have shared petitions and shared hashtags in support. I made a comment the other day that I was staying silent though I agree he was treated unfairly and I wish the best for him in the future. Funny how ARMY is accused if being so toxic but when other fandoms need help some ARMY are willing to lend a hand despite not getting anything in return. I said I would stay in my lane and be quiet but something else happened to change my mind.
As I watched the rest of Kpop support Riize, including some ARMY. The hate train shifted back to Yoongi. Why? It's been two months. His case is over. He paid an unfair fine and it's done. Well the haters figure they got rid of a Riize member so they're coming at BTS again. Well Hybe isn't SM and neither is Big Hit. BTS owns their company so Yoongi isn't going anywhere. ARMY is back in the trenches standing up for Yoongi as always. BTS is 7 and will ALWAYS be 7.
Haters sent funeral wreaths to intimidate Seunghan. This is a malicious practice of bullying that is somehow a trend in South Korea now where Kpop is concerned. Sending death wreaths as if to say 'you're dead' or 'your career is dead'is the way hate is expressed by cowardly bullies who hide their faces behind medical masks as they send giant funeral wreaths with taunting statements on them attached to ribbons adorning the flowers. These are floral arrangements meant for sending condolences to families of the deceased. They left the wreaths up so he could see them as he left the building. How this is allowed and tolerated in South Korean society, one that already has a high suicide rate, I have no idea. You would think this kind of intimidation and bullying would be punished. I mean you fall off a scooter and they call for your head on a silver platter but sending death threats in the form of funeral flowers is fine. God forbid you have a relationship as a Kpop idol but death threats in the form of funeral flowers is fine apparently. I saw a video where fans had left supportive messages for Seunghan and he got the chance to read them and that hit my heart some kind of way. I'm glad he was able to see that and I hope it drowns out all the hate.
The funeral wreath bullying came back to Hybe. The people who did it were caught on camera because they had the audacity to stay onsite at Hybe with the wreaths. They were boo'ed by International ARMYs as ARMY made sure to stand their ground and show love and support for all 7 of BTS particularly Yoongi who is the target of these haters. Food trucks and message trucks helped overshadow the negativity of the disgusting wreaths. ARMY wearing purple and carrying purple ribbons chanted the 7 members names known as a fan chant and calmly protested against haters in front of Hybe. ARMY on social media made memes and TikToks sharing support and thanks for ARMY that was available at Hybe to represent the fandom. They also shared the footage of the bullies so people will know somewhat who is behind this malicious behavior. Threads ARMY as well as Twitter ARMY reported as much as we could to the new Hybe portal.
As we went about reporting accounts we found out that there were other attacks supposedly planned against Enhyphen and Shinee. I don't listen to any of these other groups but at this point that is irrelevant. I'm ARMY only but the more I heard about this the angrier I got. I don't want to see anyone get hurt no matter what group they are from and this now feels like it is bigger than just a bunch of brainless antis. This seems like a coordinated attack and someone in the industry is behind it. Several lines have long since been crossed and exorbitant amounts of money have been shelled out for these very expensive funeral wreaths. They can go for about $4k each! There were multiple wreaths lined up side by side totaling possibly over $20k and up for a whole line of them. I don't think the average hater sitting behind a computer has that kind of money to flush down the toilet. I know they do some fundraising but, are there enough of them to have raised about $20k plus in a few days to pay for all these wreaths? I don't know. It's possible but in my opinion not as likely.
I have a theory that seems to be one shared a bit certain social sites. My theory is that Min Hee-Jin or MHJ is behind this. It's just an opinion at this time, a theory. She is the former manager (who knows what is going on with that messy situation but as far as I know I will say former manager) of NewJeans who has beef with pretty much all of Kpop right now. She has several lawsuits going on with Hybe, Belift, and Source music. You can read all about it here because this article sums up the drama better than I could. She wants to destroy BTS because apparently she thinks Bang PD stole the idea for BTS from her. This is a pattern that will continue and sounds like narcissistic behavior to me. She has openly stated that she will use whatever she can to bring about their downfall and will use whatever media she can even if the stories are not true. This makes me speculate that the whole scooter incident was possibly a setup. It's not unfathomable that someone she hired tailed Yoongi after work when he went out with his colleagues in the service and this person knew he was drinking and called the police giving his location and saying that he had been drinking. He was followed by those cops as we see on the video. They didn't just appear out of thin air.
MHJ used to work for SM as a creative director. Both Riize and Shinee (ok just noticed the names, trying not to giggle because that's cute) are with SM Entertainment. I don't know the circumstances of her leaving SM but Google says burnout which seems a little bland to me. Not downplaying burnout because it is a real thing but I doubt that's why. Other rumors are that there was an issue with the concept she was planning for a girl group and her concept was rejected by higher ups and they decided to focus on developing NCT. This is just a rumor and not confirmed. But if this is the case then she may be trying to get revenge on SM's boy groups. Her thinking seems to be that she does no wrong and everyone else just takes from her.
Riize was targeted by hate trains to get rid of Seunghan who was on "hiatus" for having had a girlfriend prior to becoming a member (as far as I know). Another dumb reason to kick someone out of a group. I mean to be real SM has a dirty history with how they treat their talent and they also have had criminals in their midst that have seen and hopefully will see jail time for actual crimes. To kick someone out for dating is just stupid. It may sound harsh but in the rest of the world, like Yoongi's scooter mishap, this wouldn't have even raised eyebrows. After the hate campaign, Seunghan was removed from the group. According to fans of Shinee they are the being targeted next on the list with haters going after Onew. I don't know the details of why the hate train is coming for him and Shinee but it doesn't even matter because none of this makes any sense. By that I mean it's all just hate for hate's sake and none of the reasons will make sense because none of these artists deserve this at all. There's no way to justify any of this at all.
The targeted hate trains are going after Enhyphen as well. There are two members of Enhyphen they are planning to target to get them kicked out of their groups. I have no idea why they would want to kick them out either but Enhyphen is with Belift Labs which is the same company that Illit is with. Belift is suing MHJ due to her allegations of plagiarism against Illit. See the pattern now? Everyone according to her has stolen choreography or concepts or something or other from her. I hope all these other fandoms fight back and fight back hard and smart and I hope these other companies actually stand behind their artists and won't let haters win in their bullying.
MHJ's karma is coming. Whether she is behind this particular shit storm of events or not she has done enough. She made he bed and now she has to lie in it. Hybe will have their hands full dealing with what's to come with her and I hope they make all the right decisions there and don't try to be lenient with any punishments to her or anyone else involved with interfering, bullying, or attempted sabotage of other groups.
What can we do? There are petitions going around and they can be effective if used the right way. I will link the one I signed. The hope is that the media will see the petitions (I guess by scrolling through the site? ) and articles will be written and these causes will be brought to the attention of the people who need to see them. Ideally since this one is really gaining traction and has over 10k signatures now, someone on the South Korean side would take the petition and print it out with all of the signatures and comments. It needs to be formally presented to people who make laws so they can see that there is a global interest in ending the use of these funeral wreaths as a bullying tactic. They also need to know that this is an issue bringing negative attention to the country and how it is perceived globally. Allowing these people be bullied , publicly shamed, and sent death threats is wrong. Here is the link to the petition if anyone wants to sign. It can't hurt to try.
Idols are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect. If you don't like an artist it takes nothing to mind your own business and keep scrolling. Focus on what you do like without trashing other artists who are also working hard to make it in a difficult industry. I never understood hateful culture of anti-fans. Idols should be able to date in peace without being kicked out of the group for it or dropped by their label. A very minor mistake like Yoongi's riding on a scooter after having a few drinks (a little kick board scooter) should be forgiven and don't warrant calls to be forced out of the group. No one thinks of what this does to a person's self-esteem and mental health. Losing a career can be devastating and haters sitting behind a computer and hiding behind a mask shouldn't get to ruin people's lives while the public closes their eyes to bullying.
***Media: Check out this video starting at 9:24 for more info on the Min Hee Jin/ Belift/ Source Music drama
Asian Entertainment and Culture YouTube
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