Among the BTS members, V was the first to receive the “Perfect Attendance Certificate” from Weverse for his extremely regular activity on the platform: chatting, playing games, responding to fan comments every day. Not only that, Weverse officially awarded him the certificate and the title “Director of Recreation” on August 11, 2020 to honor his efforts in communicating with ARMYs.
These titles were recognized not only by Weverse but by fans worldwide because of the sincerity and immense love he demonstrates through online communication with fans on SNS. Even after being discharged from military service, he consistently maintains the habit of chatting with fans whenever he has free time.
On the 28th of this month, despite returning from a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles and being busy visiting his old unit and his hometown Daegu, he still held a midnight livestream for fans.
Notably, this livestream quickly went viral on Weibo (a social media platform exclusive to ¢нιиα) just because of a few sentences in Chinese. Chinese ARMYs “exploded” with emotion when they heard V υиєχρє¢тє∂ly use a Chinese phrase he had learned 10 years ago when BTS had just debuted and promoted in this market.
The sentence translated into English is: “I love you. Hello everyone, I'm V, I'm Kim Taehyung, 20 years old, in charge of singing, please take care of me! Happy New Year!”
This became even more impressive when earlier that afternoon, V answered fans on Weverse saying he really wants to visit ¢нιиα in the future. These moments—both sincere and friendly—led to strong emotional reactions from Chinese fans and lively discussions about V on Weibo.
Some comments compiled were as follows:
- Today, I am truly the happiest person in the world.
- This afternoon on Weverse, he replied to a fan saying he wants to visit ¢нιиα, and then at night during the livestream, he said to everyone in Chinese. Taehyung, we love you. All of us love you!!
- This is the kind of heartfelt sincerity that truly reaches people
- I feel so happy, to the point I want to cry. When I first discovered him, he wasn’t even 20 years old yet. I love him so much. He will always be 20 in my heart, and I will always love him the same way.
- To be a fan of V means constantly saying, “I’m the happiest person in the world.” That kind of love he gives to fans, born from genuine sincerity, is soмєтнing I can feel so clearly from Taehyung.
- My baby, I will truly love you forever. Our baby is the most amazing person in this world.
- It’s been nearly ten years since the concert in Nanjing in 2016. Since the 2019 world tour, he hasn’t even been to Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. And yet, he never forgets his fans here, the Chinese ARMYs. Even in years when there were barely any activities in ¢нιиα, he always sent loving messages to us.
- We don’t try to create any kind of image, nor do we push heavy media campaigns. We just want to praise an idol like this — someone who, whether he can come to ¢нιиα or not, always keeps his fans here in his heart. An idol like that truly deserves to be at the top.
- Taehyung has always treated his Chinese fans with sincerity. He’s recognized many Chinese fan projects in the past, and he genuinely remembers the love from each and every fan.
- To him, the relationship between him and fans is always one of mutual love and care.
- “A kind idol will attract thoughtful fans.” So if you feel like you’re not generous-hearted enough and just want to pick fιgнтs or attack others, please don’t call yourself a fan. True fans only support and protect the person they love.
A fluent Chinese sentence from V seemed to warm fans’ hearts and increased expectations for BTS to return to Mainland ¢нιиα after nearly 10 years since ¢нιиα implemented an unofficial ban on K‑pop from around August 2016.
During that period, most кσяєαn artists were denied visas, could not perform, and were absent from television; content platforms also restricted broadcasting of K‑pop and K‑drama content, and fans had difficulty accessing кσяєαn music products and goods.
However, V has an extremely large and wealthy fanbase in ¢нιиα, most notably the community ¢нιиα Baidu VBar. Throughout the years of ¢нιиα’s K‑pop restrictions, this fanbase continued its enthusiastic and unlimited devotion to the idol.
In the first week after the release of the Proof album alone, this fanclub purchased 71,724 copies (Standard and Compact editions), worth approximately USD 1.638 million, accounting for about 39% of total sales in the Chinese market at that time.
Previously, when BTS released Map of the Soul: 7 in 2020, Baidu VBar also set a record by buying a total of 220,000 copies, worth KRW 5.165 billion (about USD 4.1 million)—the highest amount ever achieved by a fanclub in ¢нιиα’s K‑pop history.
Not just buying albums, Baidu VBar continuously organized fundraising activities for V’s birthday with extremely rapid pace and large amounts. For example, in 2021, they donated CNY 3.08 million (over KRW 532 million) within the first minute after opening the fund.
Meanwhile, from early 2025, ¢нιиα began loosening cultural restrictions with South кσяєα: K‑pop groups started receiving fan-meeting visas, albums and stores appeared on the mainland. Even the IVE autograph event in Shanghai and the band EPEX being permitted to perform in Fuzhou at the end of May are strong signs of thawing in ¢нιиα’s policy toward the Hallyu wave.
кσяєαn experts and media have also expressed expectations that ¢нιиα could be included in BTS’s World Tour stops next year, when the group officially returns with an album in spring. And most certainly, Chinese ARMYs have been longing for that moment for 9 years already (since “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue” in July 2016 in Nanjing and Beijing).
