BTS as a Case Study: What K-Pop Teaches Us About Korean Language and Society
Mike Barker, CALL Consulting Analyst for the School of Linguistics and Language Studies, recounts Dr. Joowon Suh’s talk hosted at Carleton University on November 7, 2025
It was a full house Friday night for an invited presentation by Dr. Joowon Suh, a professor at Colombia University and Director of the Korean Language Program in their Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. And the topic was a hot one: “What K-Pop Can Teach Us About Korean Language and Society: The Case of BTS.”
The rise of Korean popular culture is nothing new. The aptly-named Hallyu, or Korean Wave, has been underway since the 1990’s with K-Drama and K-Food making huge inroads with audiences well beyond the borders of the Korean peninsula. However, no aspect of the Hallyu has been more influential than that of K-Pop. And looking around the room, I can see why. On a rainy Friday night in the heart of midterm season, approximately 70 students have packed the room to hear what the author of “BTS and Languages: K-pop Transcending Language and Communication” has to say and they seem genuinely interested!
And Dr. Suh delivers, with a whirlwind tour of K-Pop from its origin stories through Psy and Gangnam style to K-Pop Demon Hunters and the role of BTS at this year’s APEC Summit.
But the talk is not only limited to stories from the stage. Dr. Suh also introduces the audience to themes from the field of sociolinguistics; themes like linguistic hybridity, codeswitching, linguistic landscapes, linguistic identity, fandom, and translanguaging; all topics that connect the experience of K-Pop as music to the study of K-Pop as an academic pursuit. “Go out and be aware of what’s out there,” she says. “Become a citizen sociolinguist.” Because K-Pop is more than just music.
And what should they watch for? So many things. Multilingual creativity in lyrics; interplay between Korean and English languages (e.g., “I purple you!”); belonging as seen in fandom communities; and so much more. In the words of BTS band member, Min Yoongi (Suga):
“I think rather than approach K-pop as a genre, a better approach would be ‘integrated content.’ K-pop includes not just the music, but the clothes, the makeup, the choreography…all these elements amalgamate together in a visual and auditory content package. It sets it apart from other genres.”
Source: GRAMMY Museum. (2018, October 23). BTS-GRAMMY Museum Full Conversation. [Video: 21:23-22:03]. Facebook.
In a one-hour presentation that seems too short, Dr. Suh shows us how the case study of a single band, like BTS, can reveal the broader implications of cultural phenomena like K-Pop and the impacts these phenomena can have on the languages, cultures, and audiences they encounter.
The presentation was followed by a Q&A session and Korean food.
Heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Suh for a thoroughly engaging presentation, to the 2025 Korean Studies Grant Program of the Academy of Korean Studies and the School of Linguistics & Language Studies for making this evening possible and, as always, to the meticulous organizing efforts of our Korean teaching team of Hyounjeong Yoo, Soyoung Kang, and Seunghee Chung.