By Honorary Reporter Miriam Rojas from Mexico

Photo = Administrators of @BangBangtan_, @Charts_k

The global sensation Hallyu (Korean Wave) is largely being propelled by K-pop, but what about the language barrier when it comes to Korean music? This makes fans who are translators crucial in promoting K-pop's reach beyond Korea.

Korean is a beautiful but highly complex language that often poses problems when translated into other tongues, as the full meaning of the words cannot always can be transmitted. This is why translator fans of K-pop can overcome the language barrier to convey the messages their favorite stars want in going beyond literal translations. Thus staying true to the original meaning of song lyrics or dialogue in film or dramas is an indispensable piece of their job. One example is the use of honorific language such as hyeong (older brother) and noona (older sister) as used by younger males.

The super group Bangtan Sonyeondan, aka BTS, is the global face of K-pop, so its international fans unsurprisingly want to know what are the group says and what its lyrics and even members' jokes or play words mean.

"Translating is an art. It's not just about copying and pasting something by the translator, it's about giving meaning to what is being read" said the administrators of @BangBangtan_Esp on Twitter, one of the largest translation pages within the Hispanic branch of the group's fan group ARMY. In five years, the branch has secured more than 281,000 followers and earned kudos from ARMY for the quality of its content.

BTS members have also thanked their translator fans for donating their time, knowledge and effort. Articles carried by renowned media outlets have highlighted the praiseworthy work of these fans.

One ARMY member who runs the Twitter account @charts_k shares used to translate for sites such as onehallyu.com or Reddit before opening her Twitter account in July last year. She has since gained fame from ARMY as in just over a year, her account has attracted more than 175,000 followers. She originally opened her page for graphics but because of her fluency in Korean, she decided to translate to get international fans to understand more of the band's content.

Though translation is mostly done by one person on her account, she said she gets her friends to help update her page on occasions like if the group is about to release new music soon. "Online, I've met so many delighted people who share the same passion for BTS as I do. There are so many intelligent and funny ARMY members whom I am related to (and who also manage accounts), and we want to go to a concert together," she said.

The two people behind the Twitter account @haruharu_w_bts have been translating the group's content for almost three years, with their tweets reaching more than 835,000 followers. "Though the translations we do don't make a big difference, we believe that even our smallest translations help some ARMY to feel a little more connected despite the language barrier," they said, adding that they were motivated by mistranslated content in the network at a time when translator fans were few.

BTS' management agency Big Hit Entertainment is aiming to promote Korean worldwide through the group's global popularity. Its affiliate Big Hit Edu has teamed up with the government-run Korea Foundation to promote Korean-language education abroad such as in the U.S., France, Egypt and Vietnam.