It’s not often that you see the United Nations go viral online. It might not always be newsworthy, but it is rare that the United Nations goes viral online. BTS, the Korean pop boy band from Korea, made UN history this week. On Monday, they made the United Nations a viral phenomenon. BTS performed and recorded a special version of their latest hit, Permission to Dance, at the UN headquarters in New York. That’s the song you might have heard playing everywhere this summer. Millions of BTS Army supporters are aware of the song and follow BTS Army closely every day.
K-pop’s band didn’t come to UN to perform a different version one of their most popular songs. On Monday, the members gave a speech as special envoys to Korea President Moon Jaein. The BTS Gang addressed the current challenges that the world faces. They spoke about climate change and the impact of the coronavirus virus pandemic. Millionen of viewers tuned in to listen.
BTS records Permission to Dance video at the UN
The Permission to Dance video that BTS recorded in New York inside the Assembly Hall and outside the UN building topped 13 million views on the UN’s YouTube channel at the time of this writing. That’s well above the few thousand to tens of thousands of views UN videos get on YouTube. Separately, the BTS seven-minute speech surpassed 1.1 million views, with a second clip topping 2.5 million views.
On Monday, more than one-million people watched the livestream. The video registered more than 6.5 million views by Wednesday.
Similarly, an interview that UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming, hosted featured President Moon and the BTS band nears 3.7 million views. It’s in this clip that Fleming reveals BTS recorded the UN-themed Permission to Dance version from “one in the morning into the early hours of Sunday.”
The UN Permission to Dance video shows the group singing the iconic song into the Assembly Hall, dancing in the empty aisles, and outside the UN building. It’s the same catchy song you know and love, but the unusual setting will make you wonder what it’s all about — see it below.
Come for the BTS hit, stay for their UN message
President Moon’s idea to turn to BTS for promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is absolutely brilliant. It’s a huge marketing trick that paid off immensely. People who might ignore the UN’s regular assemblies have certainly tuned in to see their idols in action, not knowing what they would sing, do, or say.
The new Permission to Dance video is a stunning surprise, but it’s only a fraction of what BTS did to promote the UN in what’s easily been one of the most challenging years in modern history.
BTS members spoke out on these issues as part of their SDG speech. K-pop’s K-pop group spoke out about climate change, coronavirus effects on young people, and COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Of course, we received vaccinations,” J-hope said, addressing recent speculations. “The vaccination was a sort of ticket to meeting our fans waiting for us and to being able to stand here before you today.”
Addressing the effects of COVID-19, BTS leader RM said that he heard “that people in their teens and 20s today are being referred to as Covid’s lost generation. But I think it’s a stretch to say they’re lost just because the path they tread can’t be seen by grown-up eyes,” he said.
“Instead of the ‘lost generation,’ a more appropriate name would be the ‘welcome generation,’ because instead of fearing change, this generation says ‘welcome’ and they keep forging ahead,” Jin said.
As the UN’s YouTube channel proves, millions of members of the BTS Army of fans saw and read those messages. They might have loved that new Permission to Dance video, but many of them stayed for the rest.
Below, you will find fragments from the BTS UN address and Fleming’s interview.