BTS is first South Korean band to surpass 600 million views on YouTube

SEOUL: K-pop superstar BTS becomes the first Korean band to garner more than 600 million YouTube views with their 2017 song “DNA”, its management agency said Thursday.

The song off BTS’ previous album “Love Yourself: Her”, released in September 2017, hit the YouTube landmark in the evening Wednesday, according to Big Hit Entertainment.

BTS is the only Korean band in possession of a music video whose YouTube views has hit the 600 million YouTube milestone.

“DNA” was ranked on Billboard’s Hot 100 single chart for four weeks in a row as one of the handful of songs that earned BTS world fame.

In February 2018, the Recording Industry Association of America gave a gold certification on “DNA”.

Meanwhile, BTS will resume its “Love Yourself” world tour this month, following its performances in Taiwan last month.

Since the Taiwanese leg of its tour, the group has been busy participating in year-end awards programmes during which BTS took home a bagful of trophies.

The tour has 11 remaining concerts: Saturday to Sunday at Nagoya Dome in Japan; Jan 19 in Singapore; Feb 16-17 at Yafuoku Dome in Japan; Mar 20-21 and Mar 23-24 at AsiaWorld-Expo Arena in Hong Kong; and Apr 67 in Bangkok, Thailand.

According to BTS’ agency Big Hit Entertainment, all remaining concerts have sold out.

“The fact that every concert held is performed at stadiumsized halls with no empty seats shows that BTS is as popular in Asia as they are in European countries,” said a staff member of the agency.

BTS’ latest repackaged album “Love Yourself: Answer” released in August last year has remained on the US-based Billboard’s main album chart for 19 consecutive weeks since it first entered the chart in September.