From cult films to folk music, how BTS nod to Korean culture in their album ‘Arirang’

By naming their comeback album after a Korean folk song sung across the peninsula, BTS have placed their cultural roots front and centre of their music. Alongside a fair share of English lyrics and Western production elements, the album includes several overt references to Korean history and culture.

Meanings and melodies of Arirang

The word “Arirang” has no definitive translation. As the band said in a recent interview, its lyrics are “quite abstract, but it’s about a longing, nostalgia — for a hometown, lover, family, or friend.”

Thousands of regional variations exist even in terms of the tune, but they often contain the common refrain “Arirang, arirang, arariyo.” Roughly translated, it is a call to a beloved who is unable to bear separation from them for too long. One of the songs in the BTS album, “Body to Body”, features this portion of the folk song.

The song has been associated with joy and grief, including periods of loss of sovereignty in Korean history — particularly Japanese colonisation during the 20th century and the later division into North and South Korea.

“Arirang” was added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (which also includes India’s Kumbh Mela and the festival of Diwali) in 2012. The official submission stated, “Arirang serves to unite Korean people. The unified team of South and North Korea sang Arirang as they marched together in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.”

Thematically, it can be seen as in tune with both the band’s return after a break and as emphasising their Korean identity after years of gaining recognition in the West.

Royal and recent history

The sixth track on the album, “No. 29”, has no lyrics. It features the low-pitched song of a bell tolling and fading out over a minute and 38 seconds, and serves as an interlude. This is the sound of “The Divine Bell of King Seongdeok”, an 8th-century Buddhist bell regarded as a significant cultural artefact. Officially, it is designated as South Korea’s National Treasure No. 29.

The Bell of King Seongdeok. (Wikimedia Commons)

This is not the only incorporation of royal history in Arirang. In their first live performance of the new album in March, streamed live on Netflix, BTS picked Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square as their venue. The location includes cultural landmarks like the Gwanghwamun gate that leads to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the residence of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) — the longest and last Korean imperial dynasty.

The area also has a statue of King Sejong, a Joseon king credited with creating Hangeul, or the Korean alphabet, still in use today. Until then, the kingdom used Chinese characters in its writing system, which was complex and inaccessible to the masses.

BTS pose in front of the Gwanghwamun Gate.

Perhaps more of a coincidence than intentional, one lyric in the Arirang song titled “Aliens”, referencing the pejorative used to refer to immigrants in the United States, says “From the GA and NA to the HA… yeah we aliens,” referring to the first and last consonant letters of the Korean alphabet (meant to mimic “A to Z” in English).

“Aliens” also mentions by name Kim Koo, a Korean independence activist who was exiled to Shanghai for his activities against the Japanese colonial government. Kim once collaborated with Syngman Rhee, the US-backed leader who became South Korea’s first president.

An archive of the research institute Wilson Centre says that Kim later opposed the United Nations’ plan for the political future of the peninsula, “becoming a bitter political rival and critic of Rhee. He and others made vain efforts to solve the Korean question by Koreans themselves and prevent the permanent division of Korea. Kim and some of his supporters even went to Pyongyang and met the North Korean communists, but were unable to reach an agreement.”

But for the purposes of the BTS song, which speaks of the group and South Korea’s global standing, Kim’s views on Korean culture are perhaps more relevant. He once wrote, “I want our nation to become the most beautiful country in the world. By this, I do not mean that I wish for it to be the most powerful. Having suffered the pain of invasion by another country, I do not want my country to invade others.

It is enough if our wealth makes our lives plentiful, and our strength is sufficient to prevent foreign invasions. What I crave beyond measure is the power of a noble culture, because such cultural strength brings us happiness and, in turn, confers happiness upon others.”

BTS invoke his name shortly after singing a line that says, “Everybody know now where the K is,” alluding to the rapid growth of Korean popular culture through K-pop, K-dramas or shows, K-beauty and more.

K-pop to K-films

Speaking of modern cultural exports, Korean films have garnered a reputation in recent decades for being gritty and unflinching in tackling complex and violent topics. Films such as Parasite (2019), I Saw the Devil (2010) and Train to Busan (2016) have received praise for not just their technical achievements but also for their social commentary.

In the music video for the hip-hop song “2.0”, BTS recreate scenes from the revenge thriller Oldboy (2003), by acclaimed director Park Chan-wook. The video begins with a fight scene in a hallway, which is considered one of the film’s highlights.

Here, BTS replace brutal violence with dance, a hallmark of K-pop. Rather than depicting roughness in terms of action, the group channels the sense of power and strength through lyrics about their dominant position in the industry, 13 years after they first arrived on the scene.