Gwangju City Sees Strong Impact from Local BTS J-Hope...Promotional Video Hits 2.85 Million Clicks

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju City is reaping significant benefits from the effect of BTS member J-Hope, who is a native of the region.

According to Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 2nd, a city promotional video incorporating J-Hope recorded 2.85 million views within a week of being posted on social network service channels, receiving explosive responses from fans worldwide.

Gwangju’s official YouTube channel, BitTube, posted a video titled “Finding Hope_Finding Hope in Gwangju” on the 26th of last month.

Previously, Gwangju, which utilized the fact that BTS member J-Hope (J-Hope, Jung Hoseok) is from the city to create a J-Hope Street in Chungjang-ro, produced this video to naturally connect BTS J-Hope with the city’s image and to spread familiarity with Gwangju amid increasing overseas business and external cooperation.

The main content of the video follows a female overseas fan of BTS J-Hope who learns through media reports about J-Hope Street in Gwangju and travels around various parts of Gwangju while live streaming her journey.

In particular, the video breaks away from simply introducing the city of Gwangju by setting the theme of “hope” from “J-Hope” into five themes: Gwangju’s artistic fragrance, righteous spirit, beautiful scent, nature, and travel, unfolding in an engaging travel vlog format.

Additionally, keywords are borrowed from the lyrics and titles of BTS songs such as “Ma City,” “Hope World,” “Dionysus,” “Spring Day,” “518-062,” “Magic Shop,” “DNA,” and “Butter” to tell the story of Gwangju.

First, the lyrics from “Ma City,” “I hope you look well, the city that raised me,” are connected to introduce the overall city of Gwangju, and the phrase “Say hello to my Hope World” from “Hope World” is applied to guide viewers through artistic places where J-Hope spent his childhood and found inspiration.

The lyrics “falling deep, deep, deep” from “Dionysus” represent the flavors of Gwangju, while the songs “518-062,” created to commemorate the May 18 Democratic Uprising, and “Spring Day,” which hopes for the spring of democracy, remind viewers once again that Gwangju is a city of democratization.

The “Magic Shop” segment introduces major magical tourist attractions in Gwangju, and borrowing the keyword “beginning” from the lyrics of “DNA,” it highlights Mudeungsan National Park, Gwangju’s mother mountain.

In the final part of the video, BTS’s latest song “Butter” plays, leaving a lasting impression with the message that “there is hope everywhere, at every moment” through a journey to J-Hope’s hometown, Gwangju.

“Finding Hope_Finding Hope in Gwangju” succeeded in gaining popularity, recording 2.85 million views within seven days of being posted on the YouTube channel.

Comments such as “Omniscient ARMY (BTS official fan club name) perspective,” “Gwangju’s son Jung Hoseok,” and “Like the hometown video of Hobi! Thank you for meaningfully showing Gwangju where Hobi sings” have been posted continuously, receiving empathy and interest from fans both domestically and abroad.

Kim Yongman, city spokesperson, said, “With BTS’s ‘PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE’ tour concert starting in the U.S. in December, it seems there was a synergistic effect as a keyword of fan interest,” adding, “In the era of With Corona, we will continue to develop friendly content that can connect Gwangju to the world and pursue new attempts.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.