[Seoul=Newsis] Reporter Lee Jae-hoon = The global supergroup "BTS" and their agency, BigHit Music, have donated nearly 6 billion won to the UNICEF Korea Committee over the past five years.

According to the UNICEF Korea Committee (Secretary General Lee Ki-cheol) on the 29th, the total amount donated by BTS and BigHit Music to the organization as of last month, through the "LOVE MYSELF" campaign including proceeds from merchandise and album sales, has reached 5.9 billion won.

The "LOVE MYSELF" campaign began in November 2017 with the signing of a social contribution agreement between the UNICEF Korea Committee and BigHit Music. It has supported UNICEF's "END Violence" campaign to eradicate violence against children and adolescents, and has sponsored the recovery and violence prevention efforts for affected children and adolescents worldwide.

In particular, BTS is credited with spreading messages of hope and courage to children and adolescents around the world by promoting the value of loving oneself in various forums, including their UN General Assembly speeches in 2018 and 2020, as well as through concerts, interviews, and talk shows.

To mark the 5th anniversary of the "LOVE MYSELF" campaign, the BTS members released a commemorative video on the UNICEF Korea Committee's YouTube channel today.

They said in unison, "It feels like the LOVE MYSELF campaign has gradually permeated our daily lives like background music over the past five years," adding, "It makes us happy and proud that so many people think of 'Love Myself' in their daily lives."

However, they added, "We believe there are still people around the world who do not know how to love themselves," and "It is almost the end of the year. We hope you will have a meaningful wrap-up by looking back on whether you loved yourself enough this year and whether you shared warmth with those around you."

Lee Ki-cheol, Secretary General of the UNICEF Korea Committee, said, "I once heard from a diplomat that Korea has left two major achievements over the past 60 years: the first is democracy and economic development, and the second is the birth of BTS. The global influence of this team is truly amazing. I hope that BTS's positive influence will continue to expand in the future."

Meanwhile, the BTS members will have a hiatus from group activities for the time being. Starting with Jin, who will enlist in the military next month, they will sequentially fulfill their military service while pursuing solo activities. The members and BigHit Music hope to resume full group activities in 2025.

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