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OP-ED ON K-POP BAND BTS WENT VIRAL ON TWITTER

Earlier this year, I have been a visiting researcher at Seoul National University. In between going to work and doing field research, I explored Seoul's exciting coffee shop scene. It is there that I got exposed to BTS, a boys band that will go on a world tour later this year. Fast forward to today, and I have something to celebrate. The daily newspaper The Irish Examiner featured my op-ed on BTS, which has been published first by The Conversation. But I feel most energised by the messages coming in from all over the world via Twitter. 400k views, 27k likes, 10k retweets and over 250 comments later, I am grateful to have captured just a slice of a generation that feels more connected than ever with one another thanks to the increasingly global and democratised music industry. Read my op-ed to discover in which way BTS' new album Love Yourself: Tear fights the stigma around youth pressure and mental health. — June 2018

THE NOKSAPYEONG AREA IS LINED WITH COFFEE BARS. SOME OF THEM DOUBLE AS FLOWER SHOPS.