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BTS vs Ateez: Why did Seonghwa's words lead to a war between the two K-pop fandoms?

Seonghwa had said in Ateez's latest concert, 'Because of you [Atinys], I learned to love myself'

While fan wars exist in all areas of pop culture, there are many in K-pop as fans try to protect their favorites from the prejudice and hate that is still evident. But unfortunately, they end up putting down other artists while trying to defend their favorite artists. This can once again be seen in the new fan war between BTS and Ateez’s fandoms. During Ateez’s latest concert in Newark, Seonghwa’s ending statement has led to some ARMY (BTS’ fans) and Atinys (Ateez’s fans) clashing.

Ateez’s Seonghwa has often been vocal about his low self-esteem and wondered if he was worthy of the love that fans were giving him. He had also teared up during a 2019 clip where he voiced his worries. However, he has started to change from that mindset and attributed his growing self-confidence to Atinys. During Ateez’s last concert, Seonghwa shared, “Because of you [Atinys], I learned to love myself.” And while self-love and advocating mental health is not a new concept, some ARMY felt that Seonghwa was ‘copying’ BTS’ motto of love yourself.

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ARMY think Seonghwa is copying BTS

While trying to defend Seonghwa and Ateez, some Atinys also ended up putting down BTS which led to the issue blowing out of proportion. Unfortunately, even Seonghwa got wind of it as he posted a selfie with the caption ‘I’ll protect Atiny’ to lighten the mood. Well, more mature ARMY and Atinys have also come together in hopes of shutting down the fan war.

The incident began when an American K-pop journalist tweeted Seonghwa’s words out of context that had some ARMY wondering if the Ateez star was quoting BTS’ RM, “Sounds exactly like Namjoon...wait Namjoon did say that!” It then escalated, “F**K SEONGHWA AND F**K ATEEZ AND F**K ALL OF YOU FOR SAYING SH*T ABOUT BTS BEFORE YOUR FAVS DO A COPY PASTE OF IT.” We then had one Atiny tweeting, “Ateez sold out prudential center a year after debut while bts sold out prudential center 3 years into their career I’ll say my boys are doing just fine!”

'He's not copying BTS'

One ARMY said in response, “Ateez is popular bc BTS made Kpop popular worldwide. Never forget who paved the way.” Another tried to explain why they were angry, “It has nothing to do with seonghwa, at all. It’s the hypocrisy of how some are praising him when they were the ones dismissing BTS love yourself concept as a gimmick.” One ARMYtiny slammed the toxic BTS fans, “Seonghwa was always vocal about his self-esteem issues since debut and he means how he was finally able to be find self-love after all the love he received from atinys so i promise you he’s not copying bts now can y’all f**king unclench and leave ateez the f**k alone.”

'Self love isn't a concept or something cute for you to gatekeep'

Another ARMY reasoned, “We as armys know how much bts struggled and how they were treated by fans of other groups and yet you guys are doing the same for ateez. come on now.” One ATINY was upset, “U are saying that it was because bts themselves got belittled by this message back in 2017 but atz are getting praised for it so thats why ur shitting on atz for doing the same thing ? do u NOT hear urselves? like do u not see how wrong this entire sentence and mentality are? SH was open about his own struggles and said a positive message to atinys aka his own fans and u are all out here, belittling his struggles, positive message that u and ur fav + is supposed to be all about.” One fan was blunt, “What bothers me is that this is much bigger than just seonghwa saying this. self love isn't a concept or something cute for you to gatekeep and the fact that y'all keep making jokes about this shows that you don't give a shit about bt5 or their message at all lmao.”

One Atiny tried to focus on Seonghwa, “This was seonghwa before and after. i am so happy for how much he had grown throughout the years. he really deserve so much.” One fan tried to joke, “Bts and ateez r both talented, successful, and hot as f**k so what exactly r yall fighting about.” Another pointed out, “BTS and Ateez, both had worked so hard, nothing has came easy for them, they had no privileges, they came from small companies, asked people to come to their concerts in streets, mistreatment from the industry, xenofobia as well, if you got nothing nice to say then don't say it.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.