K-pop boy band BTS faces boycott calls in China over Korean War comment

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October 13, 2020 at 7:57 a.m. EDT

BTS member Kim Nam-joon, known as his stage name RM, sparked anger in China with comments on Oct. 7 about the Korean War of the 1950s. (Video: Reuters)

SEOUL — Last year, it was the NBA. Last week, it was India. And this week, China aimed nationalistic anger at the massively popular South Korean boy band BTS.

Some in China are calling for a boycott of BTS, after one of the band’s singers paid tribute to U.S. and South Korean troops who fought in the Korean War. The conflict is officially remembered in China as a war of American aggression in which Chinese troops died defending their North Korean socialist brothers.