BTS opens up about facing prejudice and donating $1m to BLM movement

K-pop band BTS is one of the most popular musical groups with a massive fan base spread all across the world. The seven South Korean singers in the band, who have broken several records and stereotypes by becoming the first Korean group to gain such international recognition, have admitted to facing prejudice in their lives.

The South Korean boy band, who made headlines earlier this year by donating $1 million (£773135) to the Black Lives Matter movement, recently opened up about the reasons behind their massive contribution. In a conversation with Variety, Jin confessed that he and his other bandmates have also been subjected to prejudice when they were abroad or in other situations.

"We feel that prejudice should not be tolerated; it really has no place. We started to discuss what we could do to help, whether it was a donation or something else," the 27-year-old said.

"That's where the conversation began — just trying to see what we could do to try to alleviate this prejudice," he added.

The South Korean group boasts of a loyal fanbase across the world collectively known as "ARMY," who came forward in full strength after the band expressed its support to the BLM movement. When the movement was opposed by some on social media posting under the hashtag "WhiteLivesMatter," ARMY (Adorable Representative MC for Youth) drowned the anti-black hashtag by using it in memes and posts about their beloved icons.

The ARMY amazed the world once again by matching BTS's donation of $1 million to BLM within just 25 hours. Speaking about ARMY's contribution to the movement, band leader RM said: "We were aware of the fans, the hashtags and their participation. It was a decision we thought about very carefully: what could we do, as part of our overall message of speaking out against prejudice and violence?"

Meanwhile, Suga clarified that he and his fellow bandmates RM, Jin, Jimin, J-Hope, V, and Jungkook don't consider themselves as "political." The 27-year-old said: "I don't want to speak in political terms. Ours are initiatives that any person who wishes to live in a just world would want to pursue. We aren't trying to send out some grandiose message."

"[When it comes to supporting Black Lives Matter], I think it's very simple really. It's about us being against racism and violence. Most people would be against these things. We have experienced prejudice as well ourselves. We just want to voice the fact that we feel it's the right of everyone to not be subject to racism or violence," the South Korean singer added.

RM added that though they are not political figures, "everything is political eventually," while J-Hope said that they always want to do what they can to make it "a better world."