n a comment that has been largely overlooked by both Korean and overseas K-pop media, Suga from Bangtan Boys has stated that his ideal type is not restricted to females only.
Despite the lack of official media attention, there has been considerable discussion among fans — mainly within the Army fandom, BTS’ official fanclub — as to whether this is Suga’s admission of bisexuality (or pansexuality), a mistake lost in translation, or something in between.
Last week, BTS gave an interview to Japanese magazine Oricon Style, promoting their Japanese album Danger. At a first glance, the interview was pretty standard fare, containing all of the usual questions that interviewers ask during promotional period, and that we probably know by heart: What is the concept behind this album? Where would you go on a dream date?
Halfway through the interview, the interviewer asked Suga: “What do you notice first when you look at girls?” His reply was:
I focus on personality and atmosphere. I don’t have an ideal type and it’s not limited to a girl.
Is this a genuine coming out or something lost in translation? There is definitely room for error, seeing as Suga likely gave his answer in Korean, which was translated into Japanese for the magazine, which was translated into English for our benefit. That being said, the statement becomes even more unambiguous in Korean.
The line “not limited to a girl” was translated from the Japanese phrase “異性に限らず”. Japanese and Korean both derive a large percentage of their vocabulary from Chinese characters: 異性 (i sei) here translates directly into Korean as 이성 (i seong). Both are derived from the same characters which literally mean “opposite gender”. Suga is saying that his view of an ideal type is not restricted to only the opposite gender, but encompasses all genders.
seoulbeats_20141219_jokwonFrom his reply, it seems to me that Suga is implying that he simply does not see gender as related to attraction: in the same breath, he says that he looks solely at the personality and atmosphere surrounding the person, instead of worrying about gender. This could align with a definition of pansexuality — individuals who are attracted to people regardless of gender.
That being said, I wouldn’t want to label Suga as anything that he doesn’t identify as until he comes out and confirms it for himself.
I don’t want to rule out a mistranslation, either — it is entirely possible that Suga meant that he judges based solely on personality, regardless of gender and attraction. However, the implications of Suga possibly stating that he is bi or pansexual are quite large; it would make Suga the first idol to admit any sexual orientation other than heterosexual and place him in a handful of Korean celebrities in general that have done so.