‘BTS Pilgrimage’: Fans walk in BTS’ footsteps, share Seoul moments ahead of concert

SEOUL - From planned itineraries to chance encounters, global fans trace South Korean boyband BTS’ history across Seoul as anticipation builds.

“It’s incredible. I can’t believe that I’m here,” said Sodikjonova Shakhrizoda in the middle of Gwanghwamun Square.

With her “Army Bomb,” BTS’ official light stick, in hand, she has been taking in the city she had only seen through screens for years.

In a few days, BTS will perform on the same ground she stands on. Ms Shakhrizoda had made the trip from Uzbekistan after multiple attempts to secure a visa, arriving just days before the long-awaited BTS comeback.

“They healed me,” she said, adding that being here, in the same time and place as BTS, felt deeply meaningful.

Ms Shakhrizoda is one of many international fans who have recently traveled to Seoul as anticipation builds around the group’s return. Parts of the capital have turned into informal gathering points for BTS fans, known collectively as Army, in what has quickly become a global movement.

In districts such as Seongsu, Hongdae and Myeongdong, billboards stretch across building facades, filling entire streets with close-ups of K-pop idols. For fans who have spent years following K-pop through the confines of their screens, the immersive experience feels immediate.

“It’s very surreal,” said Ms Linnea Lindgren from Sweden, who now lives in Korea after having been a fan of BTS for 12 years. “You pass Hybe (parent company of BTS’ agency) and think, they’re probably inside right now,” she said.

In recent weeks, fans have been arriving from around the world. Outside Hybe headquarters in Yongsan, visitors gather throughout the day, speaking different languages but moving through the same routine: taking photos, filming videos or pausing to rest on the park benches just outside the building.

For many, the timing of their visit was unintentional.

“It was a coincidence,” said Ms Digna Dingeman, visiting from the Netherlands. She arrived after a 14-hour journey but will leave Seoul just days before BTS’ free concert at Gwanghwamun Square.

“So sad,” she said. “If I knew, I would have stayed longer. But I’ll see them in Europe. Maybe Brussels or London,” referring to the group’s upcoming Arirang World Tour starting in April.

Because the comeback schedule was not fully confirmed months in advance, long-distance travelers often had to commit to their trips without knowing if they would overlap with the group’s activities.

Others, however, describe their timing differently.

“We didn’t plan it. But BTS is coming back, so we were lucky,” said Ms Gaia Bordoni, Ms Ylenia Contorno and Ms Valeria De Martino from Italy, who are visiting Korea together for the third time.

Some fans made last-minute decisions based on expectation rather than confirmation.

“I knew it would be a very eventful week,” said Ms Tish Gatan from the Philippines, who invited her friend, Bella Thurman, to join her on a short-notice trip.

Once in Seoul, many visitors follow a route shaped by BTS history, the so-called BTS pilgrimage. The route often starts in Yongsan, then shifts toward Gangnam past former agency buildings and into small restaurants and cafes tied to the group’s trainee years. From there, it extends outward to places like Seoul Forest or, for some, as far as Busan.

“I went to the RM bench, the old Big Hit building and Jimin’s father’s cafe (in Busan). It felt like Jimin was there once, and now I’m there too,” Ms Dingeman said.

For some, visiting these places carries a more personal weight.

“I cried when I visited the ‘Spring Day’ filming location,” said Ms Shakhrizoda, recalling how seeing the seaside bus stop from the music video of her favorite song stayed with her.

Encounters around these locations also shape the experience. At Yoojung Sikdang, a restaurant in Gangnam frequented by BTS during their early years, Ms Bordoni, Ms Contorno and Ms De Martino said they spoke with the owner and later ran into a taxi driver who had worked with all of the BTS members, sharing stories about their early years.

Other moments come unexpectedly.

“The other night, we were in Itaewon, and Jungkook was just going around,” Ms Contorno recalled, laughing. “It was, like, he was in the same place as us … and we were like, ‘Oh.’ It makes you realise, he’s real.”

Ms Gatan remembered a similar moment in Hannam-dong, describing what she called a “delulu” situation. Derived from “delusional,” the term refers to those unreal, K-drama-like encounters - like unexpectedly running into one’s favourite group member, or bias.

Only this time, for Ms Gatan, it actually happened. She had been shopping in the area when she spotted one of the BTS members nearby, but chose not to approach him.

“It was late ... and he seemed really busy. I was respecting boundaries,” she said.

While the moment lingers as a quiet what-if, she said it reaffirmed that even the most unlikely encounters can happen in Korea.

“We’re just going to be around wherever we’re meant to be. Maybe they’ll pop up somewhere. If it’s meant, it’ll happen,” she said with a laugh.

Outside of official events and pop-ups, fans also encounter smaller, unexpected traces of BTS across the city, from BTS-related banners to retail promotions.

At sundown in Gwanghwamun Square, a street saxophonist plays BTS songs, the soft melodies echoing across the plaza amid traffic hums and the bustle of stage preparations in the background. The scene remains calm for now, but it offers a glimpse of what the space might feel like once it fills with hundreds of thousands of fans on Saturday, the day of the concert.

As Seoul prepares for one of the most closely watched moments in K-pop this year, the city is being reshaped and personalised, however briefly, by the movement of fans who have traveled across the world to be part of it.

“It feels really special to walk where they walked,” Ms Dingeman said. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK