After their first-ever performance in Belgium, the South Korean girl group CSR spoke to The Brussels Times about what it meant to serve as a cultural ambassador for their country.
The band was making their second-ever appearance in Europe when they performed at the Korean Culture Days festival in Brussels, adding their names to the ever-growing list of K-pop artists with international reach.
Motivated by bands such as BTS and Blackpink, the girl group CSR – whose name can be translated to "first love" – are one of the newer K-pop groups, and are part of a thriving scene which has seen Korean culture be promoted around the world.
Having only started to make music a little over a year ago at the age of 17, CSR have now performed twice in Europe, once in Amsterdam and then in Brussels.
The girl band was made to feel right at home as soon as they landed in the Belgian capital, having been recognised while eating out at a restaurant. "Even just walking down the street, we could overhear K-pop music being played at a boutique," the group said.
Their appreciation for Brussels, which they described as "a fairytale," only grew when they performed for their "passionate" Belgian fanbase. "Korean audiences are really dynamic," CSR told us, "but the Belgian and European public can be just as loud."
City of Brussels Mayor Philippe Close poses with members of K-pop group CSR. Credit: Twitter / Philippe Close
These reactions are precisely what the girl group, looks for while performing. The group explained to The Brussels Times that the name was a deliberate choice, as they wanted to “always remain in our public’s mind,” just as a first love would.
Moreover, the group wants their songs to not only touch a younger audience but to "reach across all generations," with the respect given to their K-pop forebearers an important aspect of their artistry. When asked about their influences, the girl group mentioned K-pop stars Taeyeon and BoA, who rose to fame in the scene over previous decades.
BoA is of particular significance to CSR's only non-Korean member Yuna, who originally comes from Japan. She explained that BoA, who was one of the first K-pop artists to make it big in Japan, served as an inspiration for her own career.
Inspired by her role model, Yuna knew she would move to South Korea once she got older, a dream that she would realise later on. Now a rising K-pop star in her own right, Yuna and the entire CSR group's aim is to transform "the whole world into our stage," just as they did in Brussels.
