The National Museum of Korea said RM of BTS, whose legal name is Kim Nam-joon, has donated 100 million won ($72,000) to the Korean National Museum Foundation, asking that the money be used to acquire items for the museum's collection. RM was named a global ambassador for the museum in June.
The donation was made on Sept. 29 through the Korean National Museum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports the museum, the museum said on the 30th. The foundation plans to use the funds when it purchases artifacts and donates them to the museum. The foundation supports the museum by buying relics, funding academic research and developing museum facilities. It previously purchased and donated a Joseon-era box with a mother-of-pearl lotus vine design in 2023 and a work of cursive calligraphy by Hwang Gi-ro, a master calligrapher of the early Joseon period, in 2024.
The donation is part of RM's broader patronage of culture and the arts. "I am glad to be able to support the museum as its global ambassador," RM said. "I will continue to work together in promoting the museum and our culture."
A museum official said RM's sustained support for culture and the arts is expected to further raise interest in Korea's cultural heritage and its museums, adding that the museum will strive to respond to that interest with better exhibitions and programs.
