Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
BTS fans flock to purple-lit Seoul for group's 10th anniversary
Fans of K-pop giant BTS pose in front of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), the capital's iconic landmark in its fashion district, Monday. Many iconic locations around Seoul, including the DDP, have been illuminated in purple in celebration of BTS' 10th anniversary which fell on Tuesday. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
Quan Luu, 44, flew to Seoul from Australia last Friday on a seven-day trip to celebrate K-pop giant BTS' 10th anniversary, which fell on Tuesday. Dressed in purple, the signature color of the group and its fans, she posed for a photo in front of the giant graffiti portrait of the seven members still in progress at HYBE's headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District.
She plans to visit some locations where the group filmed episodes of variety shows in the capital and join other Australian ARMY groups for a BTS tour. ARMY is the loyal global fan base of the world-famous boy band.
Jialing Wang, 39, from Los Angeles handed out self-made BTS stickers to other fans gathered around the painted wall, as many K-pop fans do with each other at concerts and events.
“It's an easy way to start a conversation with someone … I've been giving them out today and everyone laughs, so it's fun,” she said.
“They (BTS) encourage me to continue to better myself and they soothe my heart when it's in pain,” she said, explaining that BTS and like-minded fans she befriended helped her through the COVID-19 pandemic. “They're the one source of a bright spot in my life … and (BTS and ARMY) have given me so much more than I ever expected from being just a fan of a group.”
She plans to meet some friends she made during the group's Busan concert last year in promotion of the World Expo and visit BTS-related exhibits.
Photos and posters of BTS are posted on the walls of a coffee shop in central Seoul's Yongsan District, Monday, in celebration of the group's 10th anniversary. Newsis
Fans from the Global ARMY, like Luu and Wang, have been flocking to Seoul to celebrate the group's 10th anniversary and show support for the members' solo activities and mandatory military service.
Dressed and accessorized in purple, they are all on a BTS pilgrimage, visiting coffee shops and restaurants decorated with the group's photos and posters, while tracing back memories associated with the group.
Due to the wave of fanatic visitors, hotels and accommodation in the Hongdae and Myeong-dong areas are fully booked. According to HotelsCombined, a global hotel search platform, the search volume for accommodations in Seoul jumped by 106 percent from May 12 to 25.
In celebration, the city kicked off the 2023 BTS Festa, Tuesday, illuminating landmarks in purple light, including the Sejong Center, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the country's tallest skyscraper Lotte World Tower, Seoul City Hall and the Banpo, Yanghwa and Yeongdong bridges of the Han River.
Seoul City and the Seoul Tourism Organization revealed a Seoul BTS tour map to encourage fans to explore the city. The map consists of 13 BTS-related locations, including filming locations such as Gyeongbok Palace, the National Museum of Korea, Mount Acha where the group filmed its web series and Hakdong Park where the members went for relaxation as trainees before debuting.
The main event of the festival will be held around Yeouido Hangang Park in southwestern Seoul, Saturday, featuring a fan meetup with the group's leader RM at 5 p.m. and large-scale fireworks display at 8:30 p.m.
A complete set of the seven stage costumes worn by the artists during the “Dynamite” performance at the 63rd Grammy Awards last year will be exhibited free of charge at the Kensington Hotel Yeouido Seoul.