K-pop artists and fans around the world are throwing their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, raising millions of dollars for the cause and disrupting racist hashtags on social media.
On Monday, Korean superstars BTS and management company Big Hit Entertainment announced they were jointly donating US$1 million ($1.4 million) to Black Lives Matter.
Less than 24 hours later, BTS fan-based charity fundraising group One In An ARMY used the #MatchAMillion hashtag to raise another US$1 million ($1.4 million) from 35,000 donors.
"Just like BTS, we were able to donate 1M dollars to help fund: bailouts for those arrested for protesting police brutality; black-led advocacy orgs fighting against systemic injustice; support for the physical and mental health of the black commmunity," they said on Twitter.
BTS tweeted their support for protesters in the US last week, saying "we stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence".
"You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.#BlackLivesMatter."
BTS - or Bangtan Sonyeondan, which translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts - is the first K-pop group to top charts in the US and Britain.
Social media war
The donations follow an online campaign by K-pop fans to take over anti-protest hashtags on social media such as #WhiteLivesMatter and #WhiteOutWednesday.
Over the past week, fans have been posting these hashtags along with videos and images of their favourite K-pop artists.
BTS in Seoul earlier this year. Source: AAP
By overwhelming social media with their posts, actual anti-protest content has become lost in a sea of Korean singers.
Other names in K-pop have also signalled their support for Black Lives Matter through social media.
Mass protests against racism and police brutality have erupted around the US since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police two weeks ago.
In Seoul on Saturday, a small group of demonstrators held a protest in solidarity with those in the US.
Protest organiser Shim Ji-hoon told those gathered, "what happened to George Floyd could happen here, too".
