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| ▲ This photo, provided by Bighit Music, shows BTS member RM. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Mar. 14 (Yonhap) -- In an interview with a Spanish media outlet, RM, the leader of the group BTS, answered, "It's like a quality guarantee" when asked if he was tired of the "K modifier," which is used as a prefix meaning Korean culture.
According to the music industry on Tuesday, RM has responded to this question in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais on the 12th (local time), saying, "Spotify may be tired of calling us all K-pop, but it's a 'premium label' that our ancestors tried to win."
Asked if the K-pop fostering system makes singers inhumane, he said, "The company will not like my answer to this question because I agree to some extent," but added, "Reporters may think it is a terrible system and ruins young people, but it is true that the system has contributed to creating a special industry."
However, RM said, "The system has improved a lot in terms of contracts, money, and education," and introduced, "These days, there are teachers and psychological counselors."
When asked, "Is K-pop's youth, perfection, and excessive effort characteristic of Korean culture?" RM said, "Western people will not easily understand it."
"South Korea has been invaded, robbed, and broken in two. It was a country where there was nothing 70 years ago," he said. "Today, Korea is being watched from all over the world. How could such a thing be possible. It is because people have made desperate efforts for development," he stressed.
RM said, "Countries like France and Britain have colonized other countries for hundreds of years. But you guys pointed out to me, "Koreans suppress themselves too much, and life in Korea is too stressful."
"That's right. That's how we've achieved it, he said. "This has contributed in part to making K-pop very attractive."
RM replied, "Of course, there are dark parts like shadows on the side," and added, "There are side effects to everything that happens quickly and intensely."
When asked about the "biggest prejudice against K-pop," he said, "That it's like a prefabricated factory."
"I will spend a year and a half in the military, which is very important to all Korean men," RM said at the age of 30, adding, "I am confident that I will be a different human being after that." I hope I will be a better person and become wiser," he added.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Yunhee Cho.)
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