"Are you in your right mind?"— Knetz furious over non-ARMY reacting to a post mocking BTS' RM singing ’Dokdo’ in Hanbok, allegedly distorting history

BTS leader, Kim Namjoon aka RM, found himself in the crosshairs of several K-pop fandoms after an old video of him appeared online. On July 14, 2024, Share News Japan published an article stating that the idol's old clip showed him singing about 'Dokdo' being a Korean territory and wearing "comfort woman's clothes," aka Hanbok.

Notably, Namjoon aka RM's video is from 2013 when he sang Dokdo Is Our Land (also called Dokdo Is Our Territory), a 1982 Korean song written by South Korean musician Park Moon-young and about the Liancourt Rocks dispute. The song was originally performed by South Korean comedian Jeong Kwang-tae.

Historically, Japan colonized Koreans for 35 years, from August 1910 until August 1945. During this time, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces conquered nations and territories, forcing women and girls into s*xual slavery in their military camps. These people were known as comfort women. However, Hanbok is the official and traditional Korean attire for South Korean women.

Consequently, several international fandoms of other K-pop idol groups called out the BTS leader for allegedly distorting Korean history with his music. They claimed that Namjoon attempted to disrespect Japan's history and ridiculed women by wearing a Hanbok in the video.

However, Korean netizens came forward on the online Korean forum, Instiz, and corrected the international fandoms in their allegations. One online Korean user wrote,

"Are you in your right mind?"

Netizens are furious over international fandoms for allegedly distorting Korea's history. (Image via Instiz)

Several other Korean netizens voiced their dismay and anger over seeing international fandoms bringing Korea's "sensitive" history into their arguments. They stated that the fandoms "crossed a line."

"This is really crossing the line. They are using historical issues for their fandom fights? I am really pissed." — one Korean netizen wrote.

"These guys are the ones who only sell K-pop. They don't even think about the fact that the singers are Korean. They don't even like Korea. 100%" — another Korean netizen wrote.

"There are things that should and should not be crossed, but foreign fans are making fun of history and laughing with the right wing." — one netizen added.

Fans shared that the matter has gone too far now and that bringing up such a sensitive topic without proper knowledge would do more harm than good.

"This is beyond a fight between fandoms, it's gone too far. Using comfort women to criticize is really a problem that everyone should fight over regardless of fandom." — another Korean netizen wrote.

"Who doesn't know that crazy overseas fans are fighting with each other in fandoms? The problem is that they crossed the line to pick on a group." — another Korean netizen asserted.

"The three issues that our people are most sensitive about are education, history, and the military. Seriously." — one Korean netizen said.

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What sparked controversy over Dokdo's territorial claims, and how did BTS' RM become involved?

For context, on July 12, Hans India reported that the South Korean foreign and defense ministries summoned top officials at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to file a complaint. South Korea fiercely objected to Japan's reinstating its territorial claims to the country's easternmost island, Dokdo (Takeshima in Japanese).

This was incensed when Share News Japan posted RM's old clip, published 11 years ago, and claimed that he disrespected Japan and its history. Several international fans accused RM of the same without checking Korea's history and Dokdo's territorial claim as per the 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook.

Additionally, according to South Korean ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk, the islands of Dokdo are South Korean territory, and the facts would not be affected by Japan's claims, as Yonhap News reported in April 2024.

However, the post by Share News Japan caused an online discourse on July 14, 2024, where several other fandoms ridiculed BTS' RM for falsely claiming Japan's territory, Dokdo, as Korean. BTS fans came forward and shared historical evidence on social media proving Japan's colonialism of Korea and their atrocities towards Korean people, especially women.

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In other news, BTS' Namjoon aka RM, has been serving in the South Korean military since December 11, 2023. He will return in June 2025 and reconvene for group activities. Additionally, RM released his second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Place, on May 24, 2024.