A multinational alliance of fans of the Korean pop music group BTS has issued a statement in support of band member Suga, who was recently involved in a drunk-driving incident.
“The Global ARMY Alliance supports all seven members of BTS,” the collective of BTS fan groups said Monday across multiple social media platforms.
Suga has faced intense media and fan scrutiny since the incident last month. Over the weekend, he was actively pressured by some online commentators to quit the group.
The affair started with Seoul police taking Suga (real name Min Yoon-gi, stage name Agust D) in for questioning on Aug. 6 after he fell to the ground while driving an electric scooter.
Suga himself was the first to break news. He used the Weverse fan platform built by agency Hybe Corp. to own up to the incident and apologize for letting people down.
“I bow my head and apologize to those who have been hurt by my carelessness and wrong action,” he said online the day after the incident. He outlined the events, explained that no people or property had been damaged and said that he had already received an on-the-spot punishment.
“While parking my electric scooter at the front gate in front of my place, I fell by myself, and there was a police officer nearby. As a result of drinking, my license has been revoked and I’ve been fined,” he said. BTS’s label Big Hit Music also issued a speedy apology.
Their contrition, however, was far from the end of the matter.
The police later announced that Suga had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.227 at the time of the incident. That is nearly three times the level at which a driving license in South Korea would normally be revoked. A blood-alcohol level of over 0.2 could earn punishment of two to five years in jail and a fine of KRW10-20 million ($7,450-$14,900).
In the two weeks that followed, Korean media weighed in with some 1,400 stories about the Suga DUI. Many reports had speculative details. Others were fake news. At least two mainstream media, JTBC and the semi-official news agency Yonhap, aired footage of a man using a scooter on the road at night that they claimed was Suga. More than a week later, after police confirmed that Suga was in fact on a footpath, JTBC apologized for “causing confusion.”
Another complication is that BTS is currently on hiatus due to the band members’ military service obligations. Suga, however, has been serving as a social service agent, a civilian alternative to military service, since March. He is scheduled to be discharged in June next year.
Other commentators were angry that Suga had not been punished more severely. That prompted the discovery that penalties for misuse of a “personal mobility device” are not as high as the punishments for being drunk while in charge of a car. Opposition lawmakers rapidly called for revision of the law to make the penalties the same for a device and for a car. Other members of parliament sought new regulations limiting the speed of devices and to make hire companies responsible for checking scooter drivers’ qualifications.
Suga issued another apology on Aug. 24, explicitly acknowledging the damage that the incident had done to himself, BTS and their fanbase.
“Due to this incident, I have greatly damaged the precious memories I made with the members and fans and put a lot of pressure on the name of BTS. I feel so sorry and painful that it’s hard to express because it’s causing damage to the members and the team. I’m sorry that the members who always trusted me have a hard time because of me,” Suga said, again using Weverse.
Whatever disappointment they had swallowed, BTS fans, who call themselves ARMY, have been stirred into action in recent days by online calls for Suga to leave the group.
The “Global ARMY Union Statement” says it represents 127 groups of BTS fans in Korea and overseas. The statement (read in full below) takes a swipe at the fans of other music acts, who may have acted maliciously, and claims that it is the true voice of support for BTS. More importantly, the statement insists that Suga should only face the punishments that the law currently requires. It also faces down suggestions that Suga should leave, and repeatedly offers support to BTS as a seven-member act.
The incident and its extraordinary aftermath are by far the most serious crisis faced by BTS, the seven-member idol group that has done the most to further the globalization of K-pop.
But, it is not the first incident to raise serious questions about the intrusiveness and excesses of Korean media, possible collaboration by police in incidents involving celebrities, and the influence of online fandom.
Korean social media posters have frequently been accused of using the cloak of online anonymity to criticize stars looks and behavior, including their dating status, and to hold idols to standards that are higher than is reasonable. This may have led to some of the many incidents of self-harm or suicide among Korean performers.
But social media is not alone in applying the pressure. The role of established media and the alleged connivance of police once they have a celebrity in their crosshairs has also come in for scrutiny. Such collaboration may have been responsible for the death in December of “Parasite” star Lee Sun-kyun. He had been under police investigation for several months in connection with possible use of drugs. Lee claimed that his celebrity caused him to be blackmailed by another person being investigated and he allegedly lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to extortion.
In January, in response to Lee’s death, leading film director Bong Joon-ho lead a group of other celebrities that criticized mainstream media and the Korean police.
“[Lee’s] three police appearances, from the simple reagent test to the negative test, were broadcast live to the media. Recordings of his incriminating statements were released to the media and public, and he made the tragic choice to end his life after a third 19-hour police summons,” said Bong at the time.
“Clear legislative improvements are needed to ensure that principles and exceptions are not reversed between the human rights of suspects and the public’s right to know, and that investigative authorities do not arbitrarily interpret and apply the intent of the law,” Bong’s ad hoc group said.
Read the full statement from the BTS ARMY below.
