Petition to Revoke BTS Jungkook's "Order of Cultural Merit Medal" Submitted to the Blue House

The recent controversy that BTS Jungkook and three other male idols were involved in is moving far beyond the issue.

The Itaewon club-hopping incident, involving by Jungkook, NCT 127's Jaehyun, ASTRO's Eunwoo, and SEVENTEEN's Mingyu - who are real-life friends and are called the '97-liners - made a huge buzz among K-pop enthusiasts, with tremendous criticism for not practicing social distancing as part of the government's campaign to combat COVID-19.

The four idols' respective agencies released their official statements, following this revelation by Dispatch. And while heaps of netizens are criticizing these stars, some Korean fans took it too far by submitting a petition to the Blue House to revoke Jungkook's "Order of Cultural Merit" medal.

In 2018, BTS received the aforementioned accolade during the Korean Popular Culture & Arts Awards, held at Seoul's Olympic Hall.

On May 18, a petition called "Please revoke BTS Jungkook's Order of Cultural Merit medal" was initiated by some netizens in South Korea to the Blue House.

The said appeal says: "Big Hit Entertainment talent BTS's Jungkook and other three comrade artists visited Itaewon nightlife restaurant while a lot of netizens in the country are pursuing their battles to defeat the pandemic Coronavirus."

In addition to this, it stated that Jungkook didn't care about the citizens, officials, and frontliners, who are doing their best efforts to fight the virus. They also said that he doesn't fit the ideals of the medal that recognizes those outstanding achievements, which contribute to the country's progress. Thus, the petition aims to have his medal totally revoked.

After Dispatch revealed the incident that has happened on the night of April 25 until the dawn of the next day, a lot of netizens were dismayed and enraged. Others said that they were expecting these idols to serve as good examples to many, but failed to deliver their purpose as those that many young individuals look up to.

In line with the incident, Jungkook's label Big Hit Entertainment already released their official statement to address the controversy. The statement said that the idol has been contemplating his actions, adding that Jungkook voluntarily submitted himself to COVID-19 testing in a health facility and have tested negative. Further, he didn't show symptoms of the virus.

Lastly, the agency apologized and vowed to take proper measures to make sure such events will not arise in the future.

On October 24, 2018, the Bangtan Boys proudly accepted their "Order of Cultural Merit Medals," which was earlier announced by South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak Yeon that the K-pop idols were one of the chosen recipients of the prestigious national award. Other South Korean artists who also received recognitions on the said ceremony were Red Velvet, Guckkasten, and Yoo Jae Suk.

BIG HIT Entertainment is yet to answer the petition.