BTS, Biden to meet about anti-Asian crimes

Korean-pop group going to D.C.

The members of the Korean-pop supergroup BTS will meet with President Joe Biden this week to speak about antiAsian hate crimes and Asian representation, the White House announced Thursday.

The meeting will take place Tuesday at the White House.

The wildly popular BTS, which consists of seven members, originated more than a decade ago in Seoul, South Korea, and was the world’s top-selling artist last year. The two-time Grammy-nominated group has released five No. 1 albums on the Billboard Hot 200 chart and boasts chart-topping singles including “Butter” and “Dynamite.”

BTS has been vocal about anti-Asian hate crimes. The members used the hashtag #StopAsianHate in a March 2021 tweet and detailed their experiences with discrimination amid a string of violent incidents against Asian people.

“We have endured expletives without reason and were mocked for the way we look,” the message read. “We were even asked why Asians spoke in English. We cannot put into words the pain of becoming the subject of hatred and violence for such a reason. Our own experiences are inconsequential compared to the events that have occurred over the past few weeks.”

“President Biden has previously spoken about his commitment to combating the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes and signed into law the COVID19 Hate Crimes Act in May 2021 to provide law enforcement with resources to identify, investigate and report hate crimes and ensure that hate crimes information is more accessible to AA and NHPI communities,” the White House says in its announcement.