By Kim Eun-young and Lee Jihae

K-pop super group BTS has seen its global popularity reach new heights since the April 12 release of the group's sixth EP "Map of the Soul: Persona."

With a theme of finding one's identity, the seven-track EP has as its main song "Boy With Luv," which topped not only the Korean music chart but also the iTunes charts of 86 countries such as the U.S., Brazil and Japan. All seven songs made the top ten on the U.S. iTunes chart on their day of release, a record for a K-pop work.

"Boy With Luv" rose to number three on the Global Top 200 chart of Spotify, the world's largest music streaming platform. The song's music video reached 100 million views within 37 hours and 37 minutes after its April 12 release, making it the fastest YouTube clip to reach that mark.


The New York studio of the American TV network NBC was surrounded by fans who had waited in line for days to get tickets for "Saturday Night Live (SNL)," which had BTS as its musical guest on April 13.

NBC’s "Today" show said it had never seen a line this long, and The New York Times added, “If you’re wondering why… SNL audience members burst into hoots, screams and applause any time the band's name was mentioned, watch the video (of their performance) above…" 

CNN also played up the band's success, saying, "Korean pop has been steadily growing in popularity. But BTS has elevated the genre into an international movement." 

Leading music media Billboard and Rolling Stone also dubbed BTS as a "K-pop sensation" that "made history." 

eykim86@korea.kr