The roaring success in the United States of BTS, the boy band from South Korea, has captured not only attention, but backlash, and Keystone alum Marisa Luckie, ’11, delivered a presentation about it at an academic conference at Yonsei University in Seoul.

She worked with three co-researchers on a paper that she presented that examined the “Koreaboo” trend, how the term in South Korea means those who are obsessed with Korean culture, but refers in the United States simply to all fans of K-pop, or Korean pop music.

The distinction and the reaction to not only BTS, but their fans, revels layers of prejudice, Luckie explained in her talk that she presented in Korean.

In all, the conference included four sessions that explored the worldwide phenomenon of BTS and its cultural implications.

The Korea Times included an article about the conference. Check it out: http://koreatimes.co.kr/pages/article.asp?newsIdx=280178