In September 2017, at a time when BTS's global popularity was hitting its stride, an intriguing scene unfolded at Jamsil Olympic Stadium. BTS graced the stage as guests for the 25th anniversary concert of Seo Taiji, a pivotal moment that felt like a ceremonial passing of the 'pop culture icon' baton to them. Seo Taiji, who began his music career in 1992 with Seo Taiji and Boys, expressed his endorsement with the encouraging words, "It's your era now. Do well."

Like BTS, Seo Taiji, who captivated teenagers with his self-written and composed dance hip-hop music, played a significant role in the renaissance of K-pop and affected popular culture as a whole. His music, which dealt with social issues such as runaway teens in 'Come Back Home,' bears similarities with BTS's approach, earning him credit as a progenitor of K-pop dance groups.

BTS inherited a significant legacy from other artists who broadened their reach globally, paving the way for K-pop's internationalization. Clone and H.O.T. were pioneers of the 'Hallyu' wave, marking the starting point of the 'K-pop Invasion' from the late 90s to the early 2000s, mainly targeting the Chinese-speaking world. Clone saw its popularity skyrocket with a Taiwanese remake of 'Escape to the City,' leading to number one spots on local overseas music charts. H.O.T., idolized by teenagers, also made its mark in Taiwan and throughout the Chinese-speaking region, drawing an audience of over 12,000 at a solo concert in Beijing in 2000.

Around the same time, BoA broke into the Japanese market and rose as the 'Star of Asia.' Through a thorough localization strategy that included learning Japanese from her trainee days, she succeeded in capturing the second-largest market after the U.S. She continued to top the Oricon charts, leading to the 'Hallyu fever' spreading across Asia and earning praises for K-pop in the Western world. Psy, with 'Gangnam Style,' reaching the second spot for seven consecutive weeks on Billboard Hot 100, essentially popularized K-pop as a common noun.

BTS, inheriting the baton from these forerunners, has evolved K-pop to a new level. Critic Lim Jin-mo stated, "BTS, after Psy, revitalized K-pop once again and catapulted it back onto the global stage. They have contributed significantly to establishing K-pop as a massive genre on par with British Pop and Latin Pop."

Now, the so-called fourth-generation idols are rapidly growing in the global music market, riding the waves of change instigated by BTS. K-pop's annual album sales crossed the 80 million mark for the first time last year in this scenario, indicating that the strategies for capturing the global market by various agencies and music producers are peaking.

Music critic Gu Ja-hyung reflected, "There's a long history of countless challenges until it became natural for our artists to appear on the Billboard charts. Starting from the late 1960s, there was an outpouring of original works that went beyond just copying foreign music. Artists like Shin Joong-hyun, Cho Yong-pil, Seo Taiji, and BTS have each innovated in their own ways." He lauded, "Among them, BTS has unquestionably been the most striking musicians, causing a syndrome not just locally but in the global music market."

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