U.S. Talk Show Faces Racism Backlash After Asking BTS, "Anyone Here From North Korea?"

According to Financial News, BTS took part in an episode of the popular U.S. talk show "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" when a warm-up host reportedly made a racially insensitive joke before the taping, later apologizing after controversy erupted.

On the 25th (local time), TMZ reported that Seth Herzog, the warm-up MC for NBC’s "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," joked to the studio audience, "Is there anyone here from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)? No one?" during the recording.
The line was a supposed humorous twist on the usual "Where are you from?" question asked to the audience. However, BTS fans in the crowd pointed out that the remark appeared to be aimed at BTS.
As details of the incident spread via social networking service (SNS), the controversy grew, and fans began demanding a public apology from the host.
According to the report, Herzog personally apologized to BTS for what happened. The outlet also noted that senior network executives held a meeting with Herzog to discuss the incident, while adding that they were unable to obtain an official statement from his spokesperson.
BTS have previously shared that, after expanding their activities overseas, they were frequently asked whether they were from the DPRK.
Last year, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2025 (APEC 2025) CEO Summit in Gyeongju, group leader RM said in a speech, "When we first went abroad and were introduced as a Korean artist, we would often get completely out-of-the-blue questions." He added, "The question I heard the most was, 'Are you from North Korea or South Korea?'"
Meanwhile, on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that day, BTS mixed English and Korean as they introduced their new album "Arirang" and interacted with fans.
RM explained, "The folk song 'Arirang' is the piece of music that best represents the people of the Republic of Korea (ROK)," adding, "We hoped the new song would become a universal song, much like 'Arirang.'"

moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter