"SOUTH KOREA DOESN'T DESERVE BTS" - Fans outraged as ministry reportedly loses track of RM’s 1 Billion Won veterans’ donation fund 

BTS leader RM’s 1 Billion Won donation to South Korea’s Ministry of Veterans Affairs for Everyone's Veteran's Dream project on his birthday last year has sparked questions over where the money actually went.

On October 14, 2025, JTBC reported that the ministry couldn’t trace how the funds were used, even though it had earlier promoted Namjoon's good deed to inspire more contributions. Fans are outraged online over the whole situation, with one X user saying,

"South Korea should be thankful because BTS made it surfaces on the world map, but they throw their own sh!t on BTS faces and take BTS for granted."

Many have voiced the opinion that South Korea "does not deserve BTS."

Others continue to backlash against the country, criticizing its actions and policies on social media.

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BTS RM’s ₩100M donation mismanagement explained

BTS, who was completing his mandatory military duty, gave 100 million won in September 2024 on his birthday. The purpose was to assist soldiers, police, firefighters, and other uniformed professionals serving the nation.

"I think we really felt that many people were protecting our country on our behalf while we were active," the K-pop idol stated.

Kang Jeong-ae, the Minister of Veterans Affairs at the time, said,

"This will be a source of strength for those in uniform."

The ministry used RM’s donation story as a promotional push, highlighting it across platforms. The effect was immediate. Donations under the “designated donation” system (where people can choose where their money goes) skyrocketed from just one donor to 2,000, and total funds jumped from 10 million to 1 billion won.

However, the system, it turns out, isn’t built to track them properly. JTBC confirmed that under current regulations, all donations are merged into a single “National Meritorious Service Support Account," meaning every bit of money (whether from RM or others) is blended with state funds. There’s no clear way to tell which donation supports what cause.

Officials admitted that the law doesn’t allow separating donations for specific groups like veterans or special service officers. So even when donors specify how they want their money used, it’s nearly impossible to follow through.

Last year, the ministry updated its enforcement decree, claiming it was designed to encourage citizen participation. However, critics say the revision did little beyond publicity. The official website still suggests donors can pick their cause, but in reality, the process doesn’t support that promise.

"This can be seen as an extension of the enforcement ordinance politics. The fact that the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs knew in advance that designated donations would be difficult and yet falsely promoted this to the public is a serious problem," Lee Jung-moon/Democracy Party Rep asserted.

A ministry representative later acknowledged it, saying donations are “managed manually” and are hard to execute in detail. They also admitted that the decree’s revision was mainly to boost publicity, despite knowing its limits.

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Recently, RM shared a black-and-white selfie mid-run, sweaty and in large headphones, showing a 7.15 km run in 38:09 at 5’20”/km via Nike Run Club (Nike logo visible) on his Instagram Story (@rkive). In his next Story, he posted D’Angelo’s Really Alive from Spotify.

Edited by Shreya Jha