Without BTS, fans have fun in Seoul Plaza
K-pop boy band BTS' official fan club ARMY members cheer during “ARMY In Action,” part of the group's global ARMYPEDIA event, held at Seoul Plaza, Sunday. Scanning 2,080 QR codes in seven cities around the world, fans can solve a quiz related to the band and fill out ARMYPEDIA. / Yonhap
By Park Jin-hai
Over 10,000 members of ARMY, K-pop boy band BTS's official fan club, gathered at Seoul Plaza, Sunday afternoon.
In the absence of the seven-member band, fans gathered under the banner of “Run Army In Action,” scanned a QR code on the big screen and had fun answering quiz questions about BTS.
It is unprecedented for a fan club to come out of cyber space and hold a massive off-line festival.
The gathering was part of the band's global event called ARMYPEDIA, which started Feb. 21. Scanning a total of 2,080 QR codes scattered over seven cities around the world, fans could access the quiz related to the boy band, unlock and share video clips and photos of a certain day between its 2013 debut date and the event start date with other fans.
The event was designed to create a Wikipedia-like free online BTS-related encyclopedia, edited by fans from around the world.
Shin Ji-yoon, from Seoul, said she and other BTS fans were proud of themselves. “With so many ARMYs gathered for the event, I'm so proud of us. ARMY is famous for its strong bond between fans.” Everything that BTS members said was shown on screen, fans shrieked and sang along to the boy band's songs. Her friend said, “I feel great since we ARMYs made this event a success, with or without BTS (present).”
Kim Sung-soo, a culture critic, said the ARMYPEDIA event appeals to many people, because it gives a free, open-to-all space where fans and non-fans can mingle together. “If a concert is for a limited number of ticket-holding fans, ARMYPEDIA allows people to join free of charge and find fun from direct involvement,” he said.
What was noteworthy, according to another critic, Jung Duk-hyun, was that fans walked out of their traditional territory and took center stage.
Unlike previous fandom that only stems around celebrities, fans in the event are united among themselves in the absence of their stars.
“Previously, fans gathered around concert halls and fan meetings. I can say that ARMYs have now evolved into creating their own culture,” he said. “If BTS took the role of providing the playground for fans, fans are now filling the content of it for themselves.”
Fans are now counting the days. The band's agency Big Hit Entertainment said, “The band is preparing a new album. The exact date will be announced soon.”
The K-pop sensation was expected to release a new album in May, but local media raised the possibility of an early release in April.
If that is the case, it will be eight months since the band released their record-breaking repackaged album “Love Yourself: Answer” in August last year.
The final edition of the Love Yourself album series has remained on the Billboard main album chart for the 27th week in a row, since it debuted atop the chart in early September last year.