Recapped: A Brief Of BTS RM’s Speech At “APEC CEO Summit 2025”

BTS’s leader RM took the stage at the APEC CEO Summit 2025 in Seoul to deliver an inspiring keynote speech during the cultural session titled “Cultural and Creative Industries in the APEC Region and the Soft Power of K-Culture.” The event marked a historic moment — it was the first time the cultural industry was officially recognized as a key agenda for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the first time a K-Pop artist was invited to speak.

RM opened his speech with humility and warmth, greeting world leaders and expressing pride in representing Korea, the nation where he was born and raised. Speaking as both an artist and a storyteller, RM described K-pop as “a bridge that connects worlds,” emphasizing its power to unite people through creativity and shared emotion.

Reflecting on BTS’s early struggles to break into the global market, RM recalled how difficult it once was to get Korean music heard abroad.

“So today I want to speak to you as a creator and an artist. I want to share my thoughts on how K-Pop crossed borders to move the hearts of people. It’s not something we can really calculate or measure. It’s a bridge that connects worlds and I want to bring your attention to how we can work together to build this connection for tomorrow’s creative cultural eco-system.

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BTS first started to go outside Korea about 10 years ago. And back then, we didn’t dream of what we see today. Nothing was like this. Did you ever turn on your TV or radio and hear a song that’s not in your language or in English? Probably not very often, right? I felt how hard it is to ever hear a Korean song in an English-speaking country. I saw how high a cultural barrier could be.”

RM reflected on K-Pop’s unique power to unite diversity, comparing it to bibimbap — a blend of distinct ingredients that create something harmonious and new. He emphasized that K-Pop’s success stems from respect, diversity, and collaboration, blending global influences while maintaining Korea’s identity.

“I like to compare K-pop music to bibimbap and bibimbap is a traditional Korean dish. You taste rice and sauce, which is rice, and you put all kinds of vegetables, meat, flavourings on top and mix it all up and that’s the bibimbap. And K-Pop is much the same. You take Korea’s unique aesthetics, emotions and production systems but you don’t turn away elements of western music like hip-hop, R&B or EDM. Just like bibimbap, these parts all keep their unique identities but mix together to make something new, and fresh and delightful.

K-Pop is not just a genre of music. It is a 360 degree total package of music, dance, performance, visual style, story-telling, music video and even social media. K-Pop success didn’t happen because one single culture was better.”

In closing, RM urged global leaders to invest in culture and creativity just as they do in economics. Promising to do his part, RM vowed to continue spreading “messages of courage, hope, and unity” through music — reminding everyone that culture is the bridge to understanding and solidarity for the future. You can watch his speech below.

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