“How is this supposed to be promoting national prestige?”
Koreaboo
8 minutes ago
BTS and BIGBANG have been dragged in unexpected viral debate after their recent headline-making performances sparked comparisons.
| Rolling Stone
The HYBE sensation recently drew a lot of attention — positive and negative — after taking over a massively historical place in Gwanghwamun Square to hold their hugely anticipated comeback concert. During the concert, the seven members performed tracks from their new album ARIRANG, which is titled after one of Korea’s most iconic and cherished traditional folk songs.
In one of the songs, “Arirang” is even interpolated, with the group reportedly aiming to have fans from all over the world sing along to Korea’s “unofficial national anthem.”
BODY TO BODY AND EVERYONE SINGING ARIRANG https://t.co/aA8y6b0tgb
— jin files (@seokjinfile) April 9, 2026
On the other hand, YG Entertainment legends BIGBANG recently took on the prestigious stage of Coachella. Among their usual hits, Daesung chose to perform iconic trot song “Hando Chogua” in front of the global audience, sparking immense pride among Korean netizens.
Daesung is currently trending in Korea after performing ‘HANDO CHOGUA’ a trot song on stage for the first time in Coachella history 😅😅😅 pic.twitter.com/TFLLcL8zTu
— Nada #BANGCHELLA (@Nadushii13) April 13, 2026
Now, a post comparing the two has become a hot topic.
Fake madness: Leading a singalong of Arirang in English at Gwanghwamun
Real madness: Blasting trot music at Coachella
— Korean netizen via X
가짜 광기 : 광화문에서 영어로된 아리랑 떼창 유도
진짜 광기 : 코첼라에서 트로트 박아버리기 https://t.co/jno4dcSW6b
— 드드더덕 (@kkkkkddduck_18) April 13, 2026
The pointed post went viral instantly and sparked hectic debate about “impact” among netizens. Many defended BTS and slammed BIGBANG’s performance, pushing back against the comparisons.
| Pann
- “BTS and Big Bang are on completely different paths, so stop clinging to BTS when you’re stanning someone else. It’s honestly exhausting.”
- “But lol, do you guys actually think this is promoting national prestige? Watching Bieber and Sabrina’s performances and then seeing Daesung’s stage just makes me go ‘uh… what?’ and laugh.”
- “This is just a straight-up expression of an inferiority complex. Even Korean is being spoken with English pronunciation.”
- “No mentioning BTS.”
- “This is so embarrassing. How is this supposed to be promoting national prestige?”
- “Yeah, this is definitely promoting national prestige lol”