BTS's RM Has Now Given 400 Million Won to Korean Cultural Heritage Over Four Years

BTS's RM donated 100 million won to the National Museum of Korea on September 29, directing that the funds be used to purchase or gift new items to the museum's permanent collection. It is the latest in a series of cultural donations that, taken together, amount to at least 400 million won over four years.

The money was channeled through the National Museum of Korea Foundation, the museum's affiliated support body, which handles artifact acquisitions, academic sponsorship, and facility development. The foundation has a track record of putting similar funds to specific use: in 2023 it acquired a Joseon-era mother-of-pearl lacquerware box decorated with lotus and vine motifs, and in 2024 it purchased a piece of cursive calligraphy by Hwang Gi-ro, a celebrated early Joseon master. Both were subsequently donated to the museum.

A pattern of giving to Korean heritage

RM's donation to the National Museum follows two earlier gifts, each of 100 million won, made in 2021 and 2022 to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, an organization under the Cultural Heritage Administration that works to preserve and restore Korean artifacts held abroad. The foundation used that funding to produce a catalog of 24 Korean paintings held in major overseas museums and galleries, published under the title IT'S__HERE: Shining Korean Old Paintings Abroad.

The current gift carries additional institutional weight. In June, the National Museum appointed RM as its global ambassador, the first time the museum has held that role for any individual. In a statement released alongside the donation announcement, RM said he was glad to be able to support the museum in that capacity and that he intended to keep working alongside it to promote Korean culture. The museum, for its part, said it expected RM's continued support for the arts to deepen public interest in Korean cultural heritage, and that it would respond with better exhibitions and programs.

An exhibition at SFMOMA follows

The donation comes just days before a separate project opens in the United States. On October 3 local time, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art will open RM X SFMOMA: Between You and Me, an exhibition drawn from RM's personal art collection. It is the first time his private holdings have been shown in a museum setting, and RM was directly involved in the planning and curation throughout. The show runs through February 7 next year.

That combination, a major institutional donation at home and a curatorial debut abroad in the same week, reflects what the broader context of RM's public activity has suggested for some time: his engagement with art and heritage institutions goes considerably beyond the ambassador title.