Off late, "summoning the KPop stans" have become a popular usage on socials considering how a mere mention of them would assemble a swarm of Korean Pop enthusiasts for social causes and drives. BTS ARMY, the biggest fandom of them all, is in the forefront of such events often. What is a better way to celebrate the special days of their beloved Kookie, Joonie and Chimchim. A rising number of Indian members have brought this trend home.
Bangtan India, a group for the Indian fans of the South Korean boyband, has launched a special project to celebrate the birthdays of three of the band members this month - a fundraiser for kids suffering from cancer.
“We try to do social projects on behalf of BTS x ARMY for members' birthdays and the group's anniversary as frequently as we can. We made a donation to Sahodari Foundation for members J-Hope & Suga's birthdays earlier this year. So this time around, when we were looking for project ideas for Jungkook's, RM's, and Jimin's birthdays, we came across Cuddles foundation, an organisation that brings food and nutrition along with caregiver support to children with Cancer. We realised that we had never done anything for this cause before so it really resonated with us. September is also Childhood Cancer Awareness month. SO, we decided to go ahead and make a donation project for this cause for the three members' birthdays,” the Bangtan India team said.
The project started on August 26 with a target of Rs 10,000. However, in just 15 days, the fans have donated Rs 2.5 lakhs for the cause exceeding the team’s expectations.
BTS have recently secured the number 1 slots in the Billboard Hot 100 list for two consecutive weeks with their latest single Dynamite. The seven-member KPop band's first ever group track in English, Dynamite became the first video to cross 100 million views less than 24 hours after its release. The music video also recorded the fastest video in YouTube history to hit 100 million views.
The band consists of the members Kim Namjoon known by his stage name RM, Kim Seokjin aka Jin, Min Yoongi aka Suga, Jung Hoseok aka J-Hope, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung aka V and Jeon Jungkook.
Jungkook, the youngest of the team, celebrated his 23rd birthday on September 1. Group leader RM's birthday falls on September 12 while Jimin's is on October 13.
Enthusiastic fans across the world have been hosting events, conducting drives for special causes, planting trees and a lot more to celebrate the birthdays.
BTS, also known as Bangtan Sonyeondan or Beyond the Scene are at the forefront of South Korean pop music and has helped win K-pop fans around the world since their 2013 debut. The team has three rappers – Suga, RM, and J-Hope – and four vocalists – Jungkook, Jimin, V and Jin.
The band made history by being the first ever K-pop group to speak at the United Nations in 2018 and had worked with UNICEF's "Love Myself" campaign.
The band's dedicated group of fans, ARMY, recently raised over a million dollars to the Black Lives Matter, just a day after BTS itself made a $1 million donation.
They are set to return with two concerts in Seoul in October, with a limited audience observing social distancing, which will also be streamed online.
