BTS will join President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday, May 31st in celebration of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Month.
During their visit, the South Korean pop group will participate in a discussion about Asian inclusion and representation, as well as the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination, according to a statement issued by the White House on Thursday. They’ll also share how their platform as “youth ambassadors… spread[s] a message of hope and positivity across the world.”
While this will mark BTS’ first time meeting Biden, the president already appears to be a proud member of ARMY. Speaking with South Korean President Moon Jae-In in May 2021, Biden credited K-pop for growing “people-to-people and cultural connections” between the US and South Korea. “K-pop fans are universal,” Biden said at the time.
Of course, Biden’s predecessor had a less than stellar relationship with ARMY. BTS’s fan group famously sabotaged Donald Trump’s June 2020 rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma by registering hundreds of thousands of fake ticket requests as a prank.
Shortly after meeting with Biden, BTS are due to release their new anthology album, Proof, on June 10th. The three-disc collection comprises songs from BTS’s discography to date, as well as three new songs. The included tracks “reflect the thoughts and ideas of the members on the past, present, and future of BTS,” according to a statement.
K-pop supergroup BTS is coming to the White House next week pic.twitter.com/muC8CJyOeQ
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) May 26, 2022
