Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok, a national treasure, has been featured in BTS’s new full-length album, "Arirang," with help from the National Museum of Korea.

The bell is also featured in BTS’s new merchandise collection, the museum said Friday.


This collaboration was possible through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last October by the National Museum of Korea, the National Museum Foundation of Korea and HYBE, the group's record label.

HYBE had requested and granted a high-definition recording of the bell ringing that was then used on a track on the new album, “No. 29,” a reference to the bell's designation number on the list of Korea's national treasures.

After the signing, the museum's director-general, You Hong-june, took HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk on a tour of the museum, visiting the third-floor permanent exhibition hall that contains an area in which visitors can listen to the digital audio and feel the vibrations of the bell.

The Sacred Bell of Great King Seongdeok, made in 771, is the largest bell in Korea. It measures 3.6 meters (12 feet) in length and weighs 18.9 tons. The bell is rarely rung to protect it from damage. The last time the bell was publicly rung was Sept. 24 of last year, 22 years after its previous public ring.

According to legend, after multiple failed attempts to create a properly sounding bell, a monk suggested a chilling solution: sacrificing a child by casting them into the molten metal. The king consented, and once the bell was completed, it finally produced a clear tone — one said to echo the mournful cry “emille, emille.” The word “emille,” meaning “mother” in the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C. to A.D. 935), later became the origin of the bell’s nickname, the Emille Bell.

However, no scientific analysis has found evidence supporting this story.

The bell is displayed outdoors at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang. Visitors can also hear the digital recording at the Gyeongju museum.

As part of their collaboration, HYBE and the foundation released merchandise featuring shoulder bags, card clips and hair claws inspired by the bell's patterns.

BY LEE JI-WON [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]