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BTS (Yonhap) |
The slogan of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration ceremony on May 10 is “Again, Korea! A new nation of people,” the presidential inauguration preparation committee said Monday. It also confirmed that boy band BTS will not perform at the ceremony.
“The ceremony was planned considering the nation, which is taking a leap forward and where the people are the owners,” said Park Joo-sun, chairman of the presidential preparation committee.
Regarding reports that the committee is considering inviting BTS to the ceremony, a move that has drawn immediate backlash from fans, Park said it ultimately decided not to invite the group.
“BTS is a cultural asset that Korea is proud of,” Park said, admitting that a BTS performance was one of the proposals reviewed by the committee.
“However, during the review process, the president-elect noted that the ceremony should be a small but substantial and harmonious event, and we also evaluated that the direction was right.”
The committee said it was unable to invite the K-pop juggernaut due to a limited budget for the inauguration ceremony, but hoped there would be a chance for BTS to perform at a Korean event befitting the group’s global stature and reputation.
Park left open the possibility of former President Park Geun-hye participating in the inauguration ceremony.
“I personally think that (Yoon) will respectfully request (her) to attend,” Park said, adding that the committee is thinking of extending an invitation depending on the outcome of a meeting between Yoon and Park Geun-hye on Tuesday.
By Shin Ji-hye (
shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
