"Explosive Popularity Despite K-Pop Broadcast Ban"… Chinese BTS Fan Club Purchases 4.5 Billion Won Worth of Albums

New Album 'Proof' Sells 170,000 Copies on Release Day Alone

Despite China's crackdown on the Korean Wave, BTS remains popular within China. Photo by BTS Official Twitter Capture [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] Despite crackdowns on the Korean Wave by Chinese authorities, fans' enthusiasm for purchasing BTS's new album remains strong.

According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 18th, BTS member V's fan club 'V Bar' purchased more than 170,000 copies of BTS's latest album 'Proof' on its release day, the 10th. This amounts to a total of $3.49 million (approximately 4.5 billion KRW), which is reported to represent 40% of all 'Proof' albums purchased in China.

'V Bar' has 1,786,000 followers on Weibo, a Chinese social networking service (SNS). Previously, in 2019, they also conducted a joint purchase of BTS albums worth $1.75 million (approximately 2.2 billion KRW).

Chinese authorities, who previously imposed the Korean Wave ban (Hallyu ban), continue to strongly crack down on the Korean Wave. The reason cited is that fandom culture centered around K-pop groups is considered to harm public morals. Stella Lee, a university student, told SCMP, "Korean entertainment fans in China have not lost their enthusiasm despite government oppression," adding, "In fact, it seems that more and more people are recently flocking to Korean variety shows." She also mentioned that although the government bans TV broadcasts of K-pop groups, fans share stories related to K-pop stars through SNS.

SCMP reported that despite Chinese authorities' crackdowns, BTS's popularity shows no signs of waning, and many Chinese fans are saddened by the recent news of BTS's temporary suspension of group activities.

Meanwhile, BTS announced the temporary suspension of group activities through a YouTube video on the 14th. They are expected to focus on individual or unit activities for the time being.

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