K-pop kings BTS stage massive comeback concert in the heart of Seoul
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The March 21 concert marked the first time all seven members of BTS were seen onstage after pausing music activities in October 2022 for their mandatory military service.
PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL – After a nearly four-year hiatus, K-pop kings BTS staged a spectacular comeback with a free one-hour concert at Gwanghwamun Square on the evening of March 21.
Titled BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang, it marked the first time all seven members of the group were seen onstage, after pausing music activities in October 2022 for their mandatory military service.
BTS member Jin admitted to the audience they had been anxious about their highly anticipated return right up until the performance began, and were relieved and grateful to see the large crowd that turned up to support them.
The boy band – also comprising RM, Jimin, V, Jungkook, J-Hope and Suga – kicked off the show with the track Body To Body from their new album Arirang, released just the day before on March 20. They performed a total of 12 songs, including Arirang’s lead single Swim, and ended with familiar favourites Dynamite (2020) and Mikrokosmos (2019).
BTS leader RM, who was nursing an ankle injury sustained during concert rehearsals on March 19, had to sit out most of the choreography at the side of the stage.
The performance – which was live-streamed on Netflix – saw Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square transformed into a “virtual stadium” for the night, featuring the city’s iconic landmark Gyeongbokgung Palace as backdrop for the stage. The audience area stretched 1.2km southwards to Seoul City Hall, with Jumbotrons installed along the stretch.
While 22,000 tickets were given out for the concert, the authorities estimated that the spillover crowd reached up to 260,000 people.
This turnout is believed to be among the largest gatherings in Seoul’s history, rivalling the roughly 250,000 people who flooded the city streets when South Korea advanced to the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, as well as the massive crowds during the 2016 candlelight vigils that led to the impeachment of the country’s former president Park Geun-hye.
To beef up security, some 15,000 safety management personnel, including 6,700 police officers, were deployed around the concert zone from the morning of March 21, with barricades installed to channel the flow of pedestrians. Concertgoers were also required to pass through metal-detector checkpoints to enter the area.
The city had raised the terror alert a notch for the area to the second-lowest level in a four-tier system from March 19 as a precautionary measure. Such alerts are issued when there is a possibility of a terrorist attack and an important national event is taking place.
Sweeping traffic controls were also put in place from the early hours of March 21, with roads in the concert zone closed, city buses diverted and subway trains instructed to bypass affected stations without stopping.
The performance saw Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square transformed into a “virtual stadium” for the night, featuring the city’s iconic landmark Gyeongbokgung Palace as backdrop for the stage.
PHOTO: EPA
Ahead of the concert, a spokesperson for Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, which is located next to the concert zone, told The Straits Times that it was restricting access to the building to only hotel guests and had increased its security personnel for the day.
BTS performed a total of 12 songs at their comeback concert in Seoul on March 21.
PHOTO: EPA
Just metres from the hotel, street food vendor Boo Ki-sen, 63, said she had prepared three times her usual amount of ingredients for fishcake skewers and fried honey pancakes, in anticipation of the crowds.
She told ST she typically serves about 300 customers on weekends, but was bracing herself for up to 1,000 on March 21, and had enlisted her son’s help for the day.
Madam Boo Ki-sen, who sells Korean snacks near Gwanghwamun Square, prepared enough food for 1,000 customers on March 21 – up from the usual 300.
ST PHOTO: WENDY TEO
Other businesses around the concert venue, like convenience stores and restaurants, put up signs to welcome Army – the band’s fan community – and gave out free purple balloons while blasting BTS’ music throughout the day. The colour purple is BTS’ signature shade.
Mr Kim Seong-dae, 40, who owns a seafood restaurant in the vicinity, created a special BTS menu featuring purple mayonnaise sauce made with sweet potatoes.
Mr Kim Seong-dae, who runs a Korean-style sashimi restaurant just metres away from the BTS concert venue in Gwanghwamun, offered a special BTS-themed menu for March 21.
ST PHOTO: WENDY TEO
Fans from all over the world, with and without concert tickets, were seen milling around the concert zone area from noon, picking up free BTS editions that local newspapers were giving away and buying BTS merchandise at pop-up stores.
Italian make-up artist Julia Loil, 35, said she had planned her trip to Seoul since May 2025 and was overjoyed when she heard about BTS’ one-off gig. Despite failing to secure tickets, she said she was determined to soak up the atmosphere from the sidelines.
While 22,000 tickets were given out for the concert, the authorities estimated that the spillover crowd reached up to 260,000 people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Like Ms Loil, marketing professional Vannie Tan, 55, from Manila also did not have tickets. She flew to Seoul with two friends for the weekend nevertheless and planned to watch the concert on one of the many outdoor screens set up across the city.
Beyond the city centre, fan activity areas have been spread across Seoul as part of a citywide branding campaign for Arirang, with media projections, light displays and drone shows illuminating popular landmarks such as the N Seoul Tower, Sungnyemun Gate and Han River.
The festivities run through April, when BTS kick off their Arirang world tour in Seoul on April 9, before taking it to more than 30 cities, including Singapore in December 2026.
