(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Tae-soo = An international academic conference shedding light on BTS, the group leading the global K-pop Hallyu, will be held from the 14th to the 16th at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.

According to the music industry on the 12th, the "BTS International Academic Conference," now in its third year, will be held under the theme "Encountering New Humanity in the Post-Pandemic Era."

The event is jointly organized by the "BTS International Research Community," which studies the BTS and ARMY (BTS fan) phenomenon, and the Semiosis Research Center at HUFS, and is supervised by the cultural marketing group Mushroom.

The event goes beyond a simple popularity analysis of BTS to explore the "restoration of humanistic values" through the messages conveyed by BTS and ARMY in an era of chaos tainted by pandemics and wars.

The first and second events were held in the UK and the US, respectively, and this is the first time it is being held domestically.

Speakers at the event include Professor Lee Ji-young of HUFS, music critic Kim Young-dae, Professor Ahn Byung-jin of Kyung Hee University, and Ahn Jung-sung, a BTS fan who participated in a Seoul concert in the past as a farmer.

Notably, Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho, best known for his novel "The Alchemist," will participate in a special video talk.

The organizers stated, "We hope this conference will serve as a touchstone for whether BTS studies can grow significantly, like the study of The Beatles, which inspired a future of world peace and a humane community."

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.