BTS Visits My Goshiwon

Few people in Korea aspire to live in goshiwons, small but cheap dwelling places. Room 23 of the Yeoksam Single Livingtel has been my goshiwon since late November 2023. Just the other day, I was sitting there, listening to music (Josh Snodgrass’s acoustic guitar work) and reading a book about Istanbul. Although I was not expecting a visitor, there was a knock on the door. I opened it only to find myself staring into the faces of seven young men, all of Korean descent.

They seemed a bit nervous and bowed in unison. Finally, one of them identified himself as RM and proceeded to introduce the others: Suga, J-Hope, Jin, Jimin, V and Jung Kook. I would not have known it to save my life, but they were the members of the fabulously successful K-pop boy band BTS. RM said they had heard that I was a “cool guy” and a “groovy dude” and wanted to meet me. I did not ask how they had come by that information—although it was undeniably true—and invited them in.

“It’s going to be crowded in my goshiwon,” I said.

RM replied, “No problem, sir. We really appreciate you giving us some of your time.”

RM, Jung Kook and J-Hope sat on the edge of my bed, while Suga, Jimin, V and Jin stood, although they eventually sat on the floor. The one chair was mine, as they seemed to realize.

They started asking me questions about my life, so I summarized it—Texas native, born in 1952, came to Korea 18 years ago, work as an English-language editor at an IP law firm near Gangnam Station. They looked up and took note of my library. V spotted one book, a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and asked if he might borrow it.

“I promise to bring it back to you in no more than a week, sir,” he said.

“No,” I replied.

Moving right along, I was mildly interested in the history of BTS, so I asked about each of them. Suga (Min Yoon-gi) said he came from Daegu, is the younger of two boys and graduated from Global Cyber University. He confessed to having been inebriated when he fell from an electric scooter he was driving in Seoul two years ago, resulting in a 15 million won fine.

“Big whoop,” I said, and we all laughed. “How about you, Jung Kook?”

This young man informed me that he was born and raised in Busan, moved to Seoul while in middle school to be an “idol” trainee, was signed by Big Hit Entertainment and sent to Los Angeles to work on his dance skills. He has a pierced lower lip, six piercings in each ear and a heavily tatted right arm.

I next heard Jimin’s bio. “I am also from Busan,” he said. “I attended a school for the arts there and majored in contemporary dance. That’s where I learned about ‘popping’ and ‘locking.’ Like Suga, I graduated from Global Cyber University and am now an MBA student at Hanyang Cyber University. All of us became members of BTS in 2013.”

“Your turn, RM. Please keep it short. I don’t have all day.” He understood, stating that his actual name is Kim Nam-joon. Born in Seoul, he was raised in Ilsan and learned English by watching the American TV sitcom Friends. The leader of the band, as John Lennon was of the Beatles, he claimed to have an IQ of 148. I answered with some exaggeration that I am the president of the Seoul MENSA club, can speak five languages fluently, play the saxophone, viola and zither like a pro and have a deep understanding of quantum physics. To this I added, with all humility, that I can dance circles around all seven of them; I can really trip the light fantastic.

It was time to hear from J-Hope. “My actual name is Jung Ho-seok. I was born in Gwangju and have an older sister. Like the other guys, I did my 18 months of military service. I was an assistant training instructor with the 36th Infantry Division in Wonju.”

The last one was V (Kim Tae-hyung). Thirty years old, he was born and raised in Daegu and is the oldest of three children. Initially a “secret member” of BTS, this made him wonder if maybe he was not good enough and might be cut from the band. But the big shots at Big Hit told him to rest easy.

J-Hope then asked me what I thought of their music. “Fellas, I have to be honest,” I answered. “I am no fan of K-pop, and that includes yours. As stated in an article I wrote 13 years ago (https://richardpennington.com/2013/08/12/a-middle-aged-foreigner-looks-at-k-pop/), I think it is silly, derivative and utterly devoid of musical value. The dancing and prancing you guys do up on stage is all choreographed by your bosses at Big Hit. I have no interest in it whatsoever. But I am willing to acknowledge that you must be doing something right. By any metric, BTS has been the most popular band in the world for several years.”

I was previously unaware that their new album, called Arirang, is coming out soon and they will have a world tour of the same name between April 9, 2026 and March 14, 2027. Fortunately, RM enlightened me about all that.

“Good luck,” I said rather blandly.

“We are so happy to meet you, sir, and we want to honor you by inviting you to attend our big concert at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21 to kick off the tour,” Suga said. “You will have a backstage pass and will be treated with the respect you deserve.”

All seven of them were looking at me with big eyes, practically begging me to consent. I said I would think about it and that it was time to wrap up our meeting. I offered to walk them out. I led the way down the hall, turned right, left, and left again, then out into the courtyard (where I paused to show them some of my dance steps; they were awestruck) and down 14 crumbling brick stairs to Bongeunsa-ro 30-gil. Apparently the word had gotten out because the street was packed with frenzied BTS fans and media. I shook hands with RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, and they got into a silver stretch that began to slowly motor down the road.

I failed to suggest that we take a group photo before their departure, so I cannot prove to you that this happened. But take my word for it.