<\/p>\n
SEOUL<\/strong> \u2013 After a four-year break, K-pop supergroup BTS<\/a> returns Saturday with a massive, free comeback concert<\/a> in Seoul, where thousands of police are locking down a central boulevard for the Netflix-exclusive spectacle expected to draw tens of thousands of fans.<\/p>\n The performance at Gwanghwamun Square launches a monthslong global tour<\/a> spanning dozens of shows across the United States, Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n All seven members of the band \u2014 RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook \u2014 recently completed<\/a> South Korea\u2019s mandatory military service, and hope to reclaim their status as one of the world’s biggest pop acts.<\/p>\n The hourlong concert comes a day after the group released its fifth album, \u201cARIRANG,\u201d<\/a> which had already logged several million preorder sales since January. <\/p>\n The band\u2019s management company, HYBE, said RM injured his ankle during a rehearsal Thursday but was expected to perform with some limitations.<\/p>\n Officials expect the BTS concert to draw more than 200,000 people to the Gwanghwamun area, including 22,000 fans who secured free seats in the designated viewing zone and others planning to watch on screens nearby. It will be streamed live on Netflix. <\/p>\n \u201cIt will be amazing because it\u2019s been so long that BTS (was) not with us,\u201d said Dallila Di Tullio, a 32-year old fan from Italy, who called the concert a once-in-a-century event. Marta Corona, a 25-year-old Polish fan, said she would be seeing BTS in person for the first time since a 2019 performance in London. \u201cIt\u2019s been a while \u2014 I\u2019m very excited,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n BTS debuted in 2013<\/a> and has a legion of global supporters who call themselves the \u201cArmy.\u201d<\/a> It became the first K-pop act to top Billboard\u2019s Hot 100 chart in 2020 with their first all-English song \u201cDynamite.\u201d<\/p>\n Jung Dukhyun, a pop culture commentator, said that the impact of the BTS returning as a full-group after years of pause would be tremendous at a time when global fandom for K-pop has grown much stronger, as shown by the success of Netflix\u2019s animated sensation, \u201cKPop Demon Hunters.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Criticism over stringent crowd controls <\/p>\n Police and city officials are imposing stringent crowd-control measures, closing nearby streets, roads and museums, halting the area\u2019s subway and bus services, and sealing off dozens of surrounding buildings, in what amounts to a full-day shutdown of the district. <\/p>\n Cars will be barred from the main road between Gwanghwamun and Seoul City Hall for more than 30 hours through Sunday morning. The government has stepped up anti-terror monitoring, citing global tensions and large crowds of international fans, while police deployed surveillance vehicles and jamming equipment to block unauthorized drones. The restrictions have forced nearby shops to close and deliveries to pause.<\/p>\n While South Korean officials have taken crowd safety more seriously since a deadly 2022 Halloween surge<\/a> that killed nearly 160 people, critics say the controls are excessive and undercut the symbolism of performing in Gwanghwamun, seen as Seoul\u2019s spiritual heart and most prominent gathering space.<\/p>\n Hundreds of thousands have gathered<\/a> in Gwanghwamun in recent years to mourn, protest and celebrate as the country weathered tragedy and political upheaval. The BTS concert comes about a year after waves of demonstrators filled the area, calling for the ouster of then-President Yoon Suk Yeol<\/a> over his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. Those monthslong rallies were marked by a festive atmosphere and a striking blend of politics and pop culture, with protesters singing and waving colorful K-pop light sticks, and ended without major safety accidents.<\/p>\n Drawing on culture and heritage<\/p>\n The new BTS album, \u201cARIRANG,\u201d draws on a centuries-old folk song regarded as an unofficial anthem in both North and South Korea<\/a> while Gwanghwamun and nearby Gyeongbok Palace form a sweeping historic backdrop to Saturday\u2019s show.<\/p>\n South Korean officials are counting on the event to promote the country\u2019s culture and growing soft power. In a statement Wednesday, President Lee Jae Myung said the BTS performance would provide \u201ca special moment that people around the world will remember for long.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile one pillar of the album is defined by BTS\u2019 identity, the other is shaped by the emotions they feel in the present, specifically universal sentiments such as joy, pleasure, and profound love,\u201d HYBE said in response to questions from The Associated Press. <\/p>\n The 14-track record, with lead single \u201cSWIM,\u201d was recorded in Los Angeles as the group reconvened after years apart. <\/p>\n Group\u2019s comeback coincides with K-pop\u2019s global rise<\/p>\n The group’s comeback follows a nearly four-year hiatus driven by South Korea\u2019s mandatory military service,<\/a> which requires most able-bodied men to serve 18 to 21 months under a conscription system aimed at deterring aggression from North Korea. BTS members began serving in 2022,<\/a> with Suga<\/a> the last to complete his service in June 2025.<\/p>\n Despite their yearslong break, experts say BTS\u2019s outlook remains strong, backed by its massive fandom and the continuous global rise of K-pop. South Korea\u2019s SK Securities said Wednesday the group\u2019s \u201cARIRANG\u201d world tour is likely to become the biggest K-pop tour ever by scale and revenue, with 82 shows planned globally in stadiums of around 50,000 seats.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had a fairly long hiatus but still have a historically powerful fandom. As they come back, they\u2019ll likely immediately enjoy a warm welcome and intense fever around the world,\u201d said Ha Jae-keun, a cultural critic. \u201cI think they\u2019ll likely have a second heyday.\u201d<\/p>\n __ AP video journalists Yong Jun Chang and Yong-ho Kim contributed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.click2houston.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SEOUL \u2013 After a four-year break, K-pop supergroup BTS returns Saturday with a massive, free comeback concert in Seoul, where thousands of police are locking down a central boulevard for the Netflix-exclusive spectacle expected to draw tens of thousands of fans. The performance at Gwanghwamun Square launches a monthslong global tour spanning dozens of shows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2339549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21741,363250,367721,22814,453249],"class_list":["post-2339548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-jimin","tag-lee-jae-myung","tag-world-news","tag-yoon-suk-yeol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/BTS-returns-with-comeback-concert-in-Seoul-after-four-year-hiatus.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2339550,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339548\/revisions\/2339550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2339549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}