South Korean band BTS donates $1M to Black Lives Matter amid George Floyd protests

Popular South Korean band BTS donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter (BLM) in support of U.S. protests against police brutality, its music label, Big Hit Entertainment, told Reuters on Sunday.

On Thursday, the seven-member BTS wrote on its Twitter account that they are against racism and violence with the hashtag BlackLivesMatter.

“We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.”

The hashtag went viral among the K-pop group’s fans and started another wave of donations with a new hashtag, MatchAMillion.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The movement encouraged BTS‘ fan base, known as ARMY, an acronym for Adorable Representative MC for Youth, to match the $1 million donation the group made.

One Twitter account said, “ARMYs, let’s #MatchAMillion with BTS‘s donation to #BlackLivesMatter!”

1:50 Anti-racism protesters fill streets across Canada and U.S.

The boyband suspended their world tour over coronavirus concerns in April.

The rolling, global protests reflect rising anger over police treatment of ethnic minorities, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis after a white officer detaining him knelt on his neck.