Suga was the one who drove drunk… ‘Cyberbullying’ fandom, BTS ‘Army’ reputation tarnished
Suga was the one who drove drunk… ‘Cyberbullying’ fandom, BTS ‘Army’ reputation tarnished
≪Choi Ji-ye's Epilogue≫
Ji-ye Choi, a reporter for Ten Asia, objectively and sharply points out incidents that have occurred throughout the entertainment industry. She precisely analyzes the 'one point' you missed from the reporter's perspective.
There is a saying, 'Getting slapped in Jongno and getting glared at in the Han River.' It means that there is someone else who did something wrong and hurt you, but you take your anger out on the innocent person. Some ARMYs who blindly protect BTS' Suga are exactly like this.

Suga was drunk driving. Drunk driving is like potential murder. It doesn't matter if it was a kickboard or a scooter. Regardless of the type of vehicle, drunk driving is an act that requires great responsibility. Furthermore, Suga's alcohol level at the time was a whopping 0.227%. As he said, it's a number that can't be achieved by drinking a glass of beer.

If you did something wrong, you deserve to be criticized. As a member of BTS, Suga has received a lot of love and accumulated a lot of wealth, so he should accept the criticism that is proportional. The question of why Suga is receiving such a big criticism for a simple scooter drunk driving is absurd. Suga, who only apologized for the 'kickboard drunk driving' incident, should make another proper apology, and if the police summon him publicly and make him stand in the photo line, he should humbly accept it.
Suga was the one who drove drunk… ‘Cyberbullying’ fandom, BTS ‘Army’ reputation tarnished
Suga was the one who drove drunk… ‘Cyberbullying’ fandom, BTS ‘Army’ reputation tarnished
However, some ARMYs are leading cyberbullying (an act of collectively harassing a specific person online; mainly refers to verbal lynching via email or text message) and are engaging in outrageous behavior. Some of Suga's fans who call themselves ARMY are looking for those who criticize Suga and flooding their emails and SNS with malicious comments, paralyzing them. This is a serious cybercrime. Many reporters and critics have become victims of cyberbullying after criticizing Suga's drunk driving.

It was Suga's fault. It is unacceptable that Suga cannot make legitimate criticisms just because he is a member of BTS, the biggest K-pop fandom. It is the job of journalists and critics to sharply point out Suga's mistakes. It is even deplorable that some ARMYs cyberbully those who did what they should have done. Blindly protecting Suga for his crimes and attacking journalists and critics is close to ignorance.

Of course, this may only be the behavior of some ARMYs. ARMYs, the largest fandom in K-pop, have participated in many good deeds based on the values and messages that BTS has been conveying, and have been at the forefront of creating a healthy fan culture. It is unfortunate that some irrational fans are tarnishing the face of ARMYs, who are considered a fandom with a positive influence.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr