BTS’ Jung Kook Explores Qatar Amid Controversial World Cup in New ‘Dreamers’ Video

BTS’ Jung Kook has released a new music video for his solo single, “Dreamers,” which is part of the 2022 World Cup soundtrack.

Jung Kook debuted the song at the opening ceremony for the World Cup in Qatar last week. The new video for the song — which was produced by RedOne and features Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi — is, to put it mildly, very much a shiny advertisement for the controversial host nation, with Jung Kook exploring various parts of the country. 

Additionally, the “Dreamers” video is only available to watch on YouTube due to restrictions imposed by soccer’s governing body FIFA.

The World Cup in Qatar has drawn a mountain of criticism since the tiny, oil-rich Gulf nation shocked the world when it was awarded the competition in 2010. To actually host the event, Qatar spent hundreds of billions building stadiums and new infrastructure — and pretty much all of that was built by migrant workers who were effectively enslaved and subjected to brutal working and living conditions.

Additionally, Qatar has drawn sharp criticism for its treatment of women, who face various forms of social and legal discrimination, as well as LGBTQ people (same-sex relations between men are punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to the U.S. State Department). Going into the tournament, the captains of several European nations had planned to wear armbands in support of the LGBTQ community, but those plans were squashed after FIFA threatened yellow card penalties (instead of a typical uniform violation fine) that would have put those players and their teams at an immediate disadvantage.