BTS Suga becomes honorary employee of Samsung

BTS member Suga (Min Yoon-gi), who used to shout "Only Galaxy," has now become a member of Samsung Electronics Co.'s marketing team. Suga posted a picture on Instagram on Wednesday night of his employee card and a letter presented to him by Samsung Electronics, along with the caption "First-ever employee ID card in my life."

In the letter from Samsung Electronics, it says, "Welcome to Galaxy Unpack 2023. It is our honor to have you, Yoon-gi, who is so precious and thankful to us, at this very special moment, Galaxy Unpack." Though not visible in the photo, the letter seems to end with the message, "Let's continue our friendship with you in the future."

The previous day, Suga attended the Galaxy Unpack event held in COEX, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and drew attention by merely being present. His attendance had been announced in advance, leading to hundreds of fans from the BTS fan club "ARMY" gathering in front of the venue. Although Suga didn't perform or make a separate announcement at the Unpack event, his presence alone caught the attention of many.

Samsung Electronics also featured Suga's single "Daechwita" at the beginning and end of the Unpack event and introduced the new "Galaxy Z Fold 5," asking for Suga's opinions. In response to Samsung's request, he shyly smiled and took out his Fold 5, showing his excitement.

This is the first time a BTS member has participated in a Galaxy Unpack event. Last year in August, BTS made a video appearance at "Samsung Galaxy Unpack 2022" in the United States. In February of the same year, member Jimin appeared in a video for the Galaxy S23 series unpack event.

Suga has shown a special affection for Galaxy products among BTS members. In April of this year, during his solo world tour concert in Newark, New Jersey, Suga announced that he would take selfies only with fans who had Galaxy smartphones as part of an event. At that time, he told the fans, "No iPhone, only Galaxy."

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics unveiled new product lineups such as Galaxy Z Flip, Fold 5, Galaxy Watch 6, and Galaxy Tab S9 at the Galaxy Unpack event the previous day. The Flip and Fold 5 will be available for pre-sale from August 1 to 7, ahead of the official release on August 11. The Watch 6 and Galaxy Tab S9 started their pre-sale from today.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com