Thread by @dulcetbangtan

Full Transcription of RM's Speech at APEC CEO Summit 2025:

🐨It’s a huge honour be here and to meet all the leaders of APEC here in Korea, where I was born and raised. I’m honoured to tell you about myself and to share my message.

#Namjoon #RM #김남준 #APEC2025

🐨I’m so proud and excited that this year, for the first time, the culture industry was chosen as a key agenda for APEC. I'm not sure how familiar you are with K culture or K-pop, but I'm sure you all agree that the cultural industry has great economic value & growth potential.

🐨But I'm just an artist. I am not a business leader. I don't think you want to hear any numbers or figures from me. So today, I want to speak to you as a creator and an artist, I want to share my thoughts on how K-pop cross borders to move the hearts of people.

🐨It's not something we can really calculate or measure. It's a bridge that connects worlds, and I want to bring your attention to how we can work together to build this connection for tomorrow's creative cultural ecosystem.

🐨I'm a very lucky person. I'm lucky to have met the six other members of BTS. I'm lucky that I met our producer, Hitman Bang, who gave us his full support that we could make the music we love.

🐨But most importantly, I'm lucky I met ARMY who accept our music, not just as a diversion, but as our shared language of life. And, by the way, ARMY is the name of the official BTS fandom for your information. Shout out to ARMY all over the world. ☺️

🐨 (And the army is where I just finished my military service. I was there for 18 months. I just wanted to make sure.)

🐨 So ARMY’s support & passion crossed all borders and opened up brand new path for me. They gave me a voice that was heard at the Billboard Music Awards, at the Grammys, at the United Nations, and even at the White House at such historic &symbolic events, like right here at APEC

🐨BTS first started to go outside Korea about 10 years ago. And back then, we didn't dream of what we see today. Have you ever turned on your TV or radio and hear a song that's not in your language or in English? Probably not very often, right?

🐨 I felt how hard it is to ever hear a Korean song in an English-speaking country. I saw how high a cultural barrier could be. At that time, the music of BTS was quickly called non-English, foreign culture.

🐨 Trying to get on mainstream media through our music was like doing an experiment and a huge challenge. It was a test to see if music in Korean can work on the global stage. We tried to get on TV to show the world our music, but the doors were closed and would not move.

🐨 But, as you know, we couldn't just sit around and wait. We tried to make our own opportunities, we dance in the streets, we handed out flyers to free shows...

🐨 But there was something even more difficult than those: When we said we are artists from Korea, they didn't ask us about our music. They asked, are you from North Korea or South Korea? Where on earth is Korea?

🐨 So we had to explain where Korea was before we could even talk about our music. And that was the reality. But we overcame those barriers, and now I'm here today sharing this precious moment with you.

🐨ARMY was the force that broke down those barriers. They used our music as the medium to carry out conversations that cross borders and languages. They were inspired by the message in the music of BTS to give to charity to run social campaigns. And finally, the world was amazed.

🐨Back then, ARMY was seen as supporters of a minority culture from Asia. Now, they shake the world as a new community and a fandom culture. Even at this very moment, they're crossing borders and breaking down barriers through the pure power of cultural solidarity.

🐨 Solidarity and tolerance that know no borders. And it's an endless source of creative inspiration for me as well. There is so much cultural content around the whole world, but why K-pop? Why is it so unique?

🐨Why does K-pop create this powerful and inclusive community? It's because of the special principle of unity of K-pop. This is what enables people from such diverse backgrounds to come together just through the medium of K-pop.

🐨I like to compare K-pop music to bibimbap. And bibimbap is a traditional Korean dish. You gotta taste it. So you take bap, which is rice, then you put all kinds of vegetables, meat, flavourings on top, and mix it all up, and that's the bibimbap part. And K-pop is much the same.

🐨 You take Korea's unique aesthetics, emotions, and production system, but you don't turn away elements of Western music like hip-hop, R&B, or EDM. Just like bibimbap, these parts all keep their unique identities but mix together to make something new and fresh and delightful.

🐨K-pop is not just a genre of music. It is a 360-degree total package of music, dance, performance, visual style, storytelling, music video, and even social media. K-pop success didn't happen because one single culture was better.

🐨 K-pop success came from respecting diversity and embracing royal cultures but still holding onto Korea's unique identity.

🐨When cultural barriers come down and different voices harmonize together, there's an explosion of creative energy. This is where ARMY's borderless solidarity came from. And this is why K-pop is loved everywhere.

🐨Culture is like a river. It flows freely, different strains sometimes coming together in harmony, just like K-pop. Coming together to carry itself far away and create something new.

🐨I like to see this creative flow of culture happen everywhere around the world, and the Asia-Pacific region has incredible dynamic cultural diversity.

🐨K-pop's shining success is proof that cultural diversity and creativity are the greatest human potential, a force with no borders, no limits to growth.

🐨Ladies and gentlemen, leaders of APEC, let me ask you a question. What is your favourite song? Do you remember seeing a painting that took your breath away or a book you read over and over again?

🐨We all know, we all love culture and art, and we are connected by the emotion and resonance that they awaken in us. As a creator and an artist of this generation, I'd like to use this opportunity to make a request to the leaders and distinguished guests of APEC.

🐨There are creators all around the world. Please help them, give them financial support so that their own creativity can bloom. Give them opportunities so their talents can really shine.

🐨When you think about investing in tomorrow's generations, think about culture as well as economics. Culture and art are a powerful force that moves hearts. They are the fastest messengers that carry diversity and resonance.

🐨As the leaders of APEC, your policies and support will be the canvas and playground for all the creators. The foundation for creators all over the world to put out their creativity.

🐨When creators flourish, other elements of culture gather to form brand new aesthetics. Their content will go beyond all kind of differences. They will blaze a road of true understanding and tolerance. They will create the power of solidarity for the future.

🐨I, too, stand by the vision of APEC. A vision that will drive diversity, inclusion, and growth through culture and creativity. As an artist, I promise that I will also let my imagination fill the canvas you will create.

🐨 I will play my heart out in the playground you will build for us. I promise that I'll do my part by sending a message of courage and hope and lots of emotions through music. A message of embracing our differences to make something better together.

🐨 I'd like to ask for your support for this future, and I think and I believe you can make this happen. Your support can make creators let their creativity soar. With your help, their creations will resonate around the whole world.

🐨 I'd like to ask for your support for this future, and I think and I believe you can make this happen. Your support can make creators let their creativity soar. With your help, their creations will resonate around the whole world. Thank you very much.
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