BTS wins Unicef Inspire Award for its campaign against youth violence

BTS wins the Unicef Inspire Award for its campaign against youth violence. Photo: Handout

K-pop sensation BTS wants to use its popularity to help spread positivity and make the world a better place. The band has been heavily involved in several social and philanthropic campaigns.

BTS’ latest award is not a musical one. On June 22 the band received the Unicef Inspire Award for its Love Myself campaign, a long-term campaign aimed at ending violence against young people across the globe.

Love Myself was launched in 2017 with the motto, “Love yourself to be able to spread true love to others”. According to the campaign’s official website, Love Myself has raised over 2.6 million won (RM9.2mil) in funds as of November 2019.

It was one of over 100 campaigns which were eligible for the Inspire Award. Winners were selected based on the results of an online vote and an evaluation by a panel of judges.

Lee Ki-cheol, the secretary general of Unicef Korea, said: “BTS’ message that you need to love yourself in order to be able to love others is creating positive transformation all over the world. I believe this award is the result of BTS' positive influence as they give children and youth across the Earth both courage and comfort.

“As a fellow Korean, I am truly proud of their receiving this award, and I would like to use this opportunity to sincerely thank BTS and Big Hit Entertainment once again for always actively supporting Unicef’s #ENDviolence campaign.”