by Controversy is rising over the claim that ‘Mengbang Beach,’ which drew attention as the location for the album photoshoot for the digital single ‘Butter’ released by the group BTS, was in danger of being damaged by the construction of a thermal power plant.
Samcheok, Gangwon-do, actively promoting this place as a new tourist attraction, is ironically building a thermal power plant nearby to destroy tourist attractions.
Samcheok, while allies beach promotion as a tourist destination Port Authority launched.
Last May, Bulletproof Boy Scouts have launched a ‘butter’ that had topped the charts for ten weeks in Bill boat, ’24 my time most-watched YouTube music video “Guinness Book of Records, etc. It is a song that reaffirmed the popularity of BTS around the world by adding five songs.
As ‘Butter’ gained popularity, BTS fans visited Maengbang Beach, the location of their album photoshoot this summer. As Maengbang Beach rapidly emerged as a ‘BTS holy land,’ Samcheok City set up a photo zone by reproducing the cover shoot’s props and actively promoting it to domestic and foreign K-pop fans. As a result, the number of visitors to Maengbang Beach jumped from fifth place last month to second place.
However, near Maengbang Beach, which has become a new holy place for K-pop fans, Samcheok Blue Power (a POSCO subsidiary) was constructing a port to transport coal in the Samcheok Coal-fired Power Plant.
As soon as construction for the breakwater began, erosion occurred around Maengbang Beach. As sand cliffs approaching 2 m were created along the cape, the movement of sand changed.
A contradictory situation occurred when Samcheok City, promoting Maengbang Beach as a K-pop tourist destination while riding on the popularity of BTS, is working hard to build a thermal power plant that destroys the tourist destination.
Coastal erosion due to power plant construction… Along the headland, 2m approaching sand cliffs blossomed.
To prevent this, global K-Pop fans are driven by climate action platform ‘K-Pop Four Planet (Kpop4planet)’ and undermine the national catalog. Coal networks’ Beyond Coal’ allies beaches’ Save Butterfly Beach ( Save Butter Beach)’ signature campaign. The campaign calls for a halt to the construction of the Samcheok Coal-fired Power Plant, which threatens the preservation of Maengbang Beach.
Lee Da-Yeon, an activist of ‘K-Pop 4 Planet’, which runs this campaign, said, “It is Maengbang Beach where BTS’s fandom, Army, is visiting to make precious memories as they consider it a ‘BTS holy land.’ I’m sorry,” he said.
The activist said, “If the corona crisis eases and travel becomes possible, Maengbang Beach can become a world-class tourist destination as BTS is gaining great popularity abroad.” It is upsetting to hear that they are destroying the allied beach,” he added.
“Beyond Coal,” said Arin Jeong, digital communication team leader for climate solutions, “If the beach is completely damaged due to continuous coastal erosion due to the construction of the power plant, it is impossible to recover the old Allegbang Beach even if you spend a lot of money.”
