[Book review] How a K-pop skeptic journalist became a born

 
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[Book review] How a K-pop skeptic journalist became a born-again BTS fan

Posted on : 2026-07-16 17:44 KST Modified on :2026-07-16 17:44 KST

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Kukmin Ilbo journalist and editorial board member Han Seung-ju’s “Mikrokosmos” takes readers on a fascinating journey that blends fandom and analysis
BTS perform in Busan’s Asiad Main Stadium on June 13, 2026, on their world tour promoting “Arirang.” (courtesy author)

Perhaps the ultimate badge of success as a fan is getting to meet your idol through your job

That’s typically reserved for movie reporters who land an interview with a director they’ve adored since their youth and music reporters who snag front-row seats at a show by the kind of pop star only a stalker could ever glimpse from up close

But living the dream as a culture journalist isn’t always as glamorous as it might seem

As a reporter, one must maintain objectivity, and sometimes idols deserve journalistic criticism for behavior a fan would forgive. That’s enough to cool the passion and keep it from burning anew

“Mikrokosmos” (published by Medici Media) by Kukmin Ilbo journalist and editorial board member Han Seung-ju is a remarkable story of how a reporter was inducted into the BTS fandom

Han shifts between her alter egos of commentator and connoisseur for this analytical essay collection exploring the peculiar landscape of idol fandoms

In her two decades devoted to a daily newspaper, Han, at least into her late 40s, viewed pop idols much the same as any other reporter: as the pampered products of a meticulously calculated business model

“Mikrokosmos” by Han Seung-ju. (courtesy Medici Media)

A fresh perspective came, perhaps inevitably, from her teenage daughters

The jaded reporter couldn’t help wondering what compelled teenagers to stand around in long lines and suppress their bodily urges in the chilly hours before dawn

Then in November 2018, Han’s sudden surrender to idol worship came when she and her daughter headed to an Incheon stadium for a concert by Wanna One, who they had watched and voted for during their pre-debut days on the survival program “Produce 101.”

After being struck watching BTS take the stage at the end of the show, unable to stop herself from comparing them to every act she’d seen before, she realized that “something had changed” within her as she ran through their performance over and over again in her head. 

That led her down a rabbit hole of looking up and watching BTS’ prior performances, the group’s appearances on TV programs, and even their “Bangtan Log” vlogs from their debut days. 

“For the first time, I felt that there was a world beyond the predictable formula of K-pop that we’ve come to know,” she writes. 

Then Han takes us on her journey with BTS, starting in 2019 with their performances at Wembley Stadium in the UK and Stade de France in Paris, winding through Los Angeles and Busan before their big “Arirang” comeback show in Gwanghwamun and the first leg of their world tour in Goyang

This journey takes readers to two places that most books about BTS fail to. 

First is the trial-and-error of trying to actually get tickets as a fan of BTS and not a member of the press, and the camaraderie of trust and friendship that she forms with fellow ARMY members around the world as she makes her pilgrimages for her favorite group. 

She tells the story of looking for resellers online after failing to get a ticket for BTS’ second day of shows in Paris and coming across a fan from Russia. 

“Even as I was hitting send on PayPal, I was filled with doubts — maybe I was getting scammed; maybe I would get to the doors and get turned away. What if I couldn’t see them even after flying all the way to Paris? [. . .] Nevertheless, I decided to trust this person. If I couldn’t trust ARMY, who could I trust?” she writes. 

Such honest accounts of her adventures and misadventures as a BTS fan throughout the book do what ordinary reporting can’t, describing the emotional side of things with such vividness that even those unfamiliar with idol fandom culture feel as though they’re on the same journey. 

The other element that distinguishes Han’s work from other BTS texts is her analytical view of the fandom she’s a part of as a reporter. Having herself become accustomed to clicking “buy” like a maniac when new tickets or merch drops (“based not on judgment but on instinct”) and taking part in all variety of BTS events, Han dives deep into the divide between the sentiments felt by fans and the data collected by companies. 

“Just how much do the people who consume the most in this industry have to do with the most important of decisions?” she asks. “You’re forced to ask whose views the ‘fandom economy’ was designed to reflect.”

The “BTS Festa Zone” in cosmetic brand Amore Pacific’s headquarters in Seoul in June 2023, marking 10 years of BTS. (courtesy author)

As for the secret to BTS’ runaway success, Han says it’s not the group’s perfection, but their imperfection. Fans “aren’t ‘buying’ BTS; they are going through life with them,” Han writes. What binds fans together “isn’t that they think the same things, but that they’ve felt the same feelings.”

Cover to cover, Han’s book leaves you wanting to spend enough time with someone to become their biggest fan, whether or not that someone is BTS. 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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