While visiting the US to take part in the UN General Assembly, South Korean President Moon Jae-in enjoyed a boost after appointing the K-pop group BTS as “special presidential envoys for culture and future generations.”
The New York Times and Washington Post reported that the opening ceremony for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Moment (SDG Moment), which was attended by Moon and the members of BTS on Monday, was viewed live by approximately 1 million people.
Moon and BTS have attended four events together to date, including an interview with the US network ABC on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, videos of a BTS performance of “Permission to Dance” pre-recorded around the UN headquarters and the SDG Moment meeting itself had respectively racked up 12 million and 6.48 million views.
“The UN General Assembly meeting is typically attended by policymakers and politicians and is not generally known for attracting widespread interest,” the Washington Post noted. “While high-profile celebrities often appear to give speeches, the attention driven by BTS was uniquely intense.”
First lady Kim Jung-sook also accompanied BTS Tuesday on a visit to the Korean gallery at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest art museum in the US.
By Lee Wan, staff reporter
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