"There's no way for a Korean artist to go": BTS' SUGA comments on K-pop idols' inability to perform and promote in China

On June 11, 2023, after wrapping up his last Agust D concert in Thailand, BTS' SUGA started a Weverse live broadcast to chat with his fans while having dinner. Among the several topics that emerged during the live, the idol also asked his fans if there were any countries that they'd like to see him and his fellow BTS members perform, given their inability to do so in the fall of Covid-19.

While he himself talked about the countries he wanted to visit such as Spain, India, and so on, he saw the comments requesting his visit to China. The idol then took the opportunity to explain that a visit to China wasn't possible due to the country's Hallyu Ban, adding that even groups with Chinese members struggle to book promotions schedules in China.

"I want to do a Chinese tour too. It's been a long time since I went to China so I want to go. But there's no way for a Korean artist to go and work," he said.

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BTS' SUGA elaborates on K-pop idols' inability to perform in China

Starting a live broadcast after a concert has slowly evolved into a tradition amongst K-pop idols and SUGA is no exception to this. In his live stream, the majority of the conversation revolved around the places he wants to perform in, be it a solo tour or with the entirety of BTS.

The idol listed several places and spoke about his interest in performing wherever ARMYs are and rolling out at least 50 to 60 shows if he can:

"I really want to perform where there are ARMY. I really don't feel good either. Even if I don't do it in other places, I wanted to do 50 or 60 more shows. I really want to go to Europe, too. I want to go to Africa too, and I want to go to South America, too, and Middle East. Honestly, I want to go anywhere I can perform."

Naturally, many fans brought up how they would like to see the idol perform in China and roll out a full-fledged Chinese tour. To this, SUGA replied:

"Chinese tour? I can't perform in China, so how do I have a tour in China? Is there any Korean artist performing in China? I don't think so."

Later on in the live, fans were seen flooding the comments, posting flags of the countries that they wanted the idol to come and perform in. SUGA excitedly watched and responded to the same:

"China. I saw Chinese ARMYs today, too. I can't perform in China. No, I saw this situation, too. In this K-pop, there are Koreans and Chinese and people from other countries. Chinese members of K-pop groups can work in China, but the team can't go and work in China. Anyway, that's that. I don't know why."

This inability of K-pop groups to perform and promote in China was set in place by the country in 2016 when they banned any form of unofficial Hallyu or Korean wave of pop culture. This is a result of the political tension that the two countries share.

In other aspects of the live, SUGA also revealed an interesting fact about how he really wanted to perform in India and hoped to do the same for the Agust D tour, but unfortunately couldn't.

"India. I really wanted to go to India. I'm not joking. I really was planning for a concert in India. We can't right now and that's why I couldn't. When we were doing our stadium tour in 2020, other than the cities that were revealed, we were looking for a lot of other countries. One of those places were India."

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With SUGA's passion to perform in several countries, including China, along with a huge crowd of Chinese ARMYs yearning to see him perform live, fans hope that China makes space for the idol to roll out at least one concert, if not a whole tour.