Why BTS music is not "K-pop" but VERY Korean music: A Korean perspective

I've come across many posts debating whether or not BTS can be considered K-pop and many people concerned about BTS fans who weren't general K-pop fans, so as a recent Korean fan I thought I might shed light on what these terms mean to many of us and why in general we're not surprised at this. Disclaimer: I will speak in general terms and use my personal experience as a case study (ie, don't take this as scientific guide but rather a (hopefully) clarifying opinion).

First of all, it's important to understand how we (Koreans) understand the term "K-pop". The term is not used in Korea except for in a foreign context (eg: on the news about BTS' US performances and chart achievements). Here, pop songs sung in Korean by boy/girl groups put together by music companies are called "idol music" or "idol pop" and is generally not listened to or much respected by those older than 21-22 mainly for the reason that, to us (I'm in my 30s), it is not really Korean. Yes, the singers are (mainly) Korean and the sungs are 99% Korean, but around the mid-2000s when the government decided that idol music was going to become a competitive export, idol music companies mostly bought songs made by Western producers (Swedes, Americans, British, etc.) and just had Korean writers put Korean lyrics to them. Much of the time, these are songs that were already rejected by A-class Western pop singers (SM is an especially big sinner in this). So why would we listen to B-grade Western pop songs when we could listen to A-grade Western pop? Moreover, to us, the key criteria is not genre that determines whether it's truly Korean or not is the presence or absence of what we call "Han". Han has no direct translation in English but it's a mix of sorrow, nostalgia, anger, pain, and hope. It's the emotional journey and state of mind of someone who has been gravely wronged but is powerless (made powerless) in society to take revenge but decides eventually to cling to the hope of a better future when you overcome your Han. It colours Korean films, dramas, and esp our literature. And, regardless of genre, it's in all true Korean music.

And this brings me to BTS. I think the Korean general public is now fascinated with BTS because they are packaged like a typical idol group and so in the beginning most of us older than 21-22 would have dismissed them as another idol group making idol music. But then they kept defying the odds and posted incredible results in the US, and that's when the Korean general public (myself included) started wondering "what is it that the West sees that we're not seeing? Could it be that this is not a typical idol group or their music isn't really idol music?" It turns out, their music is extremely Korean. I sense Han in almost all their title songs but especially in Spring Day, and it's no coincidence that it's Spring Day that drew in so many Korean fans in their 30s, 40s, etc. On top of that, their personal story of struggling and finally being acknowledged in the industry is also full of Han. And this has led me (and I'm sure many others in Korea who otherwise wouldn't touch idol music/K-pop with a 12-foot pole) to realise that they are Korean artists producing true Korean music.

Therefore, I'm inclined to be in favour of the side that argues BTS is not K-pop, but I really want to have a further discussion/debate about it here and am happy to take any questions :)

Edit: Bloody hell! I did NOT expect this post to blow up like this...went to bed at 2am and just casually checking it now and I'm like O_O lol. Thank you for being intereste! :D At the same time, I apologise in advance if I can't (rather, don't have time) to answer all your questions or address everything here ^ _ ^ ;;

Edit 2: Oh my god WTF!! No way...ㅎㅎㅎㅋㅋ...there's no way now I can follow-up on every comment/question. I feel really bad, because I honestly did not think this would spark interest beyond a niche of curious folks, but I have no time between 2 full-time jobs in Executive positions (joke's on me for posting 3 hours before the start of the work-week) ^ ^ ;; If you still have burning questions or comments that haven't already been answered in this thread, please message me, and I'll try my best to engage by 2am KST tomorrow (no promises though * embarassed * )