SEOUL, July 31 — BTS’s boycott of the Grammy Awards has sparked calls for other K-pop acts to follow suit, with fans urging solidarity against what they describe as a discriminatory new category.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the move has triggered heated debate online, with Korean netizens and international fans sharply criticising the Recording Academy’s decision to introduce a Best Asian Pop Music Performance award.

“It’s a racist award ceremony,” one post on the Korean forum Nate Pann said. 

“Now that BTS has boycotted the Grammys, any K-pop artist who submits will probably just get mocked, and even if they win it’ll feel completely gross.”

The Recording Academy’s new Best Asian Pop Music Performance category — announced in June to cover acts from Korea, China and Japan — has drawn criticism for potentially sidelining K-pop groups from the Grammys’ main awards.

Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr said in a statement he was “saddened” by the band’s decision and that success in the Asian category did not rule out wins for other headline awards, AFP reported.

Fans remain unconvinced. 

“The Grammys created one category called Asian Pop, basically gave it to BTS, and made clear the general awards — the real ones — are off limits to K-pop,” read a Threads post on Thursday.

BTS collected several Grammy nominations — from Dynamite and Butter to collaborations like My Universe — but never won. Rosé’s APT also earned three major nods without a trophy.