RM, the leader of BTS, has been named the first global ambassador of the National Museum of Korea, turning the rapper into the official face of his country’s cultural heritage. The Seoul based institution, often described as South Korea’s flagship history and art museum, confirmed the appointment after a signing ceremony on June 19.
For K-pop fans, the move makes official what RM has been doing informally for years, using his platform to spotlight Korean art, museums and historical objects. It also signals how seriously Korea now takes K-pop’s role in soft power, placing a chart topping idol at the center of its most important museum’s image abroad.
RM global ambassador National Museum of Korea: a historic first
According to the museum, RM was chosen as its first global public relations ambassador in recognition of his deep affection for Korean art, cultural heritage and the museum itself. At the ceremony in Seoul, director You Hong-june presented him with a special reproduction of the nineteenth century map Daedongyeojido, a symbolic gift that ties his role directly to Korea’s historical archives.
RM will take part in promotional campaigns and help introduce Korean history and traditional culture to audiences overseas. “I want to do my part so that the beauty and value of our cultural heritage can reach more people,” he said, echoing the museum’s own promise to share the “value and beauty” of Korea’s heritage with the world.
Why RM is the face of Korea’s cultural heritage
Long before this title, RM backed preservation work with his own money. In 2021 and 2022 he donated 100 million won, roughly 65,000 dollars each year, to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation to help restore and protect Korean cultural assets held abroad.
He is also a serious art collector whose museum visits often turn into viral moments. Seoul based critic Andy St. Louis has described an “RM effect,” where exhibitions he posts about on Instagram see immediate jumps in attendance, sometimes creating long lines outside, a contrast to the relatively modest follower counts of Korean museums themselves.
Museum leaders in Korea have increasingly looked to K-pop idols to connect collections with Gen Z visitors. RM’s appointment takes that logic to the highest level, effectively turning a BTS member already viewed at home as a cultural “treasure” into an official representative of how the country tells its own story.
From Seoul to SFMOMA: RM’s next art chapter
His museum role also syncs with RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me, the show he is co curating at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from October 2026 to February 2027, featuring about 200 works from his and SFMOMA’s collections. The exhibition will set modern Korean art alongside contemporary pieces from around the world.
For US ARMY, that exhibition is where RM’s work as a cultural ambassador becomes a tangible experience, bringing the stories of Korean art and heritage from Seoul’s national museum context into an American gallery space they can actually walk through.