BTS had two big premieres this week, one of them being their appearance on "Friends: The Reunion," a special from the 90s series that has become a cult show. HBO and other streaming platforms premiered the commemorative episode, but China censored the South Korean boyband.

The K-pop group has become an international music benchmark, it is not the first time that it has made an appearance or special mention in popular series.

With HBO's "Euphoria" they participated with Jungkook's song of the same name, they also came close to having a reference in "The Falcon And The Winter Soldier" on Disney Plus.

With the release of "Friends: The Reunion", BTS held a special interview as part of the reunion, but they were censored in China. Platforms such as iQIYI, Alibaba Youku and Tencent Video omitted the participation of Korean singers.

They also censored Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and scenes with characters from the LGBT community or where underwear was shown.

Although they did broadcast the episode of “Friends: The Reunion”, BTS fans could not see the interview in which the idols appear, who declared themselves followers of the series. Member Namjoon confessed that thanks to the program he perfected his English and since he was little his mother bought the DVDs.

The tension between China and South Korea

It is not the first time that China has retaliated against the group, a few months ago the government prohibited the entry of BTS merchandise, nationalist motives could be behind this censorship and boycott of the group.

Criticism against him was unleashed after BTS's speech accepting the James A. Van Fleet Award, which celebrates ties between the United States and South Korea, hence China's discontent.

kma