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K-pop artist V from BTS shared a message on social media for teenage South Korean table tennis player Shin Yubin, who is competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
V, who is reportedly Shin's favorite member of the global boy band, posted a comment on South Korea's Weverse platform in a show of support for her at the Tokyo Games.
On Sunday the 17-year-old—the youngest member of the South Korean women's table tennis team—defeated Luxembourg's Ni Xia Lian, a 58-year-old China-born Olympic athlete who is a former world champion. Shin beat the veteran athlete in the second round of the women's singles event for table tennis.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported the BTS member's message of support was posted on Weverse, the Korean mobile app and web platform where fans and artists can interact.
V's official Weverse username is 주윤탄 (the Korean spelling for "Joo Yun-tan"), South Korea's Star Today reported in June. The username is reportedly a combination of the name of his dog 연탄 (which can be spelled in English as Yeon-tan) and Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat (known as 주윤발 in Korean, which can be spelled as Joo Yoon-bal in English).
Koreaboo reported a member of the "Army" (the collective name for BTS fans) posted a screenshot from an interview Shin did with South Korean television network YTN, showing an image of the athlete with a caption from the program that read: "I listen to BTS' new song often...feels like my condition is getting better."
In a reply to that Weverse post from the BTS fan, V was reported to have posted a comment that read: "화이팅 [Fighting]" with a thumbs-up emoji. Fighting is a Korean phrase used to root and cheer others on.
Yonhap reported Shin has been seen in previous interviews carrying photographs of BTS in her backpack. The BTS song that keeps the teenage table tennis player going when she is feeling down is reportedly "Dope," their single from the 2015 EP The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1.
Back in June, Shin posted an image of her holding a BTS album that was signed by the band. The post, which included the hashtags BTS and Bangtansonyeondan (the band's full name in Korean), included a note in Korean that translates to: "I'm a seong deok." Seong deok is a Korean phrase that translates to "successful fan."
Shin will be playing against 24-year-old Doo Hoi Kem from Hong Kong on Tuesday in the third round of the women's singles table tennis event.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more