In recognition of BTS Jungkook's birthday, Korea's KTX (Korea Train Express), for the first time in 16 years, authorized an external train wrapping advertising. The gift has been greatly aided by one of its China fan bases. Looking from the KORAIL officials' viewpoint, they acknowledge they have argued quite a bit about this advertisement.
Even though they've done closing ads to support local tourist attractions and international activities on the railways, it's the first moment after their last one back in 2004 to display commercial advertising. The officials who are opposed to the request in the first place and even conveyed their opinions saying that this commercial advertisement could bring them unprecedented controversy, as they are supposed to promote local and national events. Yet there was a different point of view for those who acknowledged the demand for the ad campaign.
"The number of riders dramatically decreased due to the effects of COVID-19, so a new source of income needed to be sought. It can support import foreign currency with the Korean wave, particularly K-Pop. If the wrapping commercial is gaining popularity overseas, KTX awareness could also significantly raise. We indeed sense a great deal of pressure about how the commercial's response will be and tough times going through the management situation. Hopefully, this would be able to start up a new advertising market for the prospect and support the Korean wave in doing so." (via Koreaboo)
BTS and Jungkook's dominance and influence have brought to fruition once again. This Jungkook-wrapped train will operate from Haengsin Station for the whole month of September, with the first rail taking off on September 1 at 8:30 AM KST.
ABOUT JUNGKOOK
Jungkook debuted as a BTS member on June 12, 2013, with the 2 Cool 4 Skool single. He has performed two solo songs under BTS. The first one was the pop hit "Begin" from the 2016 release Wings, where he shared his tale of relocating to Seoul to be an idol at a young age. He extends appreciation to his colleagues for taking good care of him throughout that period.