Good morning to readers, #Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
South #Korea is quietly becoming one of Ukraine’s vital military aid partners.
And Ukrainians are repaying with a fierce obsession for Korea’s culture.
Meet Oleksandra and Rita, who bonded over their shared love of #K-pop.
South Korean culture has taken deep root in #ukraine with thousands of fans embracing not only the music but also dramas, cosmetics, and food.
As Ukraine faces a critical shortage of artillery shells, South Korea has supplying more shells to Ukraine than the entire #EU.
Oleksandra Petukhova first tried listening to #K-pop in 2013. It wasn’t popular then. At first she didn’t like it – she thought it was some kind of children’s song.
And then she saw a photo of a very handsome guy on a website, who Oleksandra thought was a model.
When she started looking for more information about him, she found out that he was Kai, a member of the Korean band Exo.
Meanwhile, Rita Kyruta started getting into K-pop in 2019. That’s when she came across a teaser for the #BTS song “Shadow” in her #YouTube.
#BTS captivated Rita so much that she even got a tattoo of a phrase from one of their songs right above her heart: Love Yourself.
When the band has sales of albums or other merchandise, they put cards with everything.
There are limited numbers, and they can only be pre-ordered for one day, and then they aren’t available anywhere else.
Rita bought them all.
This is how Rita met Oleksandra.
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https://www.counteroffensive.news/p/why-ukrainians-love-k-pop-and-korean
@timkmak@journa.host “Korean culture is so popular in Ukraine that K-pop fans don’t have to leave home to attend events celebrating their favorite bands. Rita and Oleksandra went to a birthday greeting for BTS idol J-Hope that was held at a Kyiv mall in 2021. A congratulatory message was displayed on a billboard for the singer.”
Dystopic stuffNEWS OF THE DAY:
IRAN SENT BALLISTIC MISSILES TO RUSSIA: Iran has probably supplied Russia with more than 200 short-range ballistic missiles, according to The Times.
They would allow the Russian troops to launch attacks on Ukrainian cities from further distance.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/ballistic-clmpm3d7m
NEWS OF THE DAY:
#IRAN SENT #BALLISTIC #MISSILES TO #RUSSIA: Iran has probably supplied Russia with more than 200 short-range ballistic missiles, according to The Times.
They would allow the Russian troops to launch attacks on Ukrainian cities from further distance.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/article/ballistic-clmpm3d7m
#UKRAINE FORCES COUNTERATTACK IN #POKROVSK: After a steady retreat of the Ukrainian army in the #Donetsk region, Kyiv’s forces began to counterattack, Forbes reports.
Even though the counterattacks are small-scale, they help to slow down the offensive and push back the Russians.
