Dancing To BTS Choreography Lands Three North Korean Soldiers In Trouble

Three young North Korean soldiers are awaiting punishment for dancing to the choreography of boy band BTS's "Blood, Sweat, and Tears." The soldiers in their 20s were arrested during People’s Army’s expedition to Mt. Baekdu on the Chinese–North Korean border.

The soldiers were arrested because the authorities believed they were influenced by South Korea.

The incident was reported to have occurred at Sokhu Station in South Hamgyong Province on the night of Aug. 5. The soldiers were traveling in a train bound for Hyesan from Pyongyang. The three men from the air force division started dancing during an entertainment event when the train halted due to a power outage.

The incident took place when the soldiers and senior officials from the General Political Bureau and the Security Bureau were watching.

Members of the Defense Security Agency noticed the soldiers dancing and immediately reacted. The three soldiers were dragged away by the security guards at the decision of the propaganda worker of the General Political Bureau and the director of the Bureau of Security Affairs.

The reason for the action, according to one of the soldiers was, "I imitated the decadent South Korean (Korean) dance on the way to learn following the revolutionary spirit of the ancestors," Daily NK reported.

The unit was reported to be put on a state of emergency because the authorities believed the soldiers’ "state of thought is completely rotten," the outlet reported.

During the investigation, the soldiers pleaded they were not aware it was a South Korean dance. They said they were only copying a routine popular in the North Korean society known as the "Exciting Boy Scout Dance," which they had learned from within the unit.

The whole North Korean military may be in danger of undergoing an ideological review as this incident surfaces.

Netizens have responded to the issue and have raised their share of questions, with some asking, "How can the North Korean security guards pinpoint a South Korean singer's song 'Blood, Sweat, and Tears' just by seeing the movements without ever seeing or listening to the song?"

It was revealed the North Korean security bureau has a specialized department that closely monitors external videos including K-pop videos for three hours a week.

After this incident surfaced, the North Korean military authorities have now come up with new plans to strengthen the liberal arts project. The General Political Bureau distributed learning materials entitled "Capitalist ideological culture and the issue of young soldiers in a new generation" to all the military forces and ordered for discussions in each organization, the outlet reported.

The BTS is quite popular among the North Koreans, said defector Han Song Yi who is a broadcast jockey. She appeared on the South Korean MBC FM4U's radio broadcast on July 12.

"I know a broker unnie in China and she said BTS is really popular in North Korea," Han said during the broadcast. "They call them Bangtan Bag. It's like a code used to refer to BTS. ... I think an inspection team has been created because of the Hallyu wave. So people use codes to talk (about them)."

When host Ji Suk Jin commented, "Red Velvet performed in North Korea," Han replied, "Yeah, they are famous", and added, "North Koreans don't know what red flavor means, so I said it taste like strawberry jam."