The Korea Times

Why BTS Gwanghwamun show shocked Japanese social media users

Korean culture has become part of everyday life around the world. Former U.S. President Barack Obama nodded along as children at a care home sang “Soda Pop,” a song from the animated film “KPop Demon Hunters.” Director Steven Spielberg waved a K-pop light stick at the Academy Awards. Such scenes, in which people across generations share an enthusiasm for Korean culture, would once have been difficult to imagine. They reflect the global rise of Korean content and K-pop fandom. Korean content exports reached a record 22.26 trillion won ($14.9 billion) in 2025, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The global spectacle highlights how overseas audiences interpret the Korean wave and its impact on local cultures. Audiences see different stages at BTS show One of the biggest events in Korean popular culture during the first half of 2026 came March 21, when K-pop supergroup BTS staged its comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. The official event title was "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG." Netflix streamed the show live to more than 190 countries, tur

Jul 18, 2026By Hankookilbo

Why BTS Gwanghwamun show shocked Japanese social media users

BTS ARIRANG

Free BTS concert gift bags flood secondary markets at exorbitant prices

Free gift bags that BTS gave to fans at its Busan concerts flooded secondary markets within a day, with some overseas listings topping $400. Dozens of listings appeared on eBay and Korean secondhand trading apps Danggeun Market and Bunjang under titles such as "BTS Arirang Busan Concert Gift Set" and "BTS Busan Fan Gift." Sellers on eBay priced some listings at about $460 without any confirmed sales, Tuesday. On Danggeun Market and Bunjang, the sets traded for 100,000 won ($66) to 250,000 won. The gift bags included a clear PVC swim bag, an official BTS umbrella, a hand towel set, perfume, sheet masks and several photo cards featuring messages and signatures from BTS members. The photo cards, selling separately for 50,000 won to 120,000 won, made the sets highly coveted among fans. Sellers sought to cash in on the demand. One overseas eBay seller described the bag as "a product that has never been sold to the general public, an ultra-rare collectible that any fan of (BTS) must own." Another overseas seller said the item is "in very good condition as it is unopened" and offered worldwide

Jun 16, 2026By Hankookilbo

Free BTS concert gift bags flood secondary markets at exorbitant prices

BTS ARIRANG

BTS celebrates 13th anniversary with return to Busan

BUSAN — K-pop juggernaut BTS marked its 13th anniversary with a massive celebration, bringing the group's ongoing "ARIRANG" world tour to Busan's Asiad Main Stadium on Friday and Saturday for a two-night run that felt much bigger than a concert. The timing was no accident. The second show landed squarely on June 13, the group's debut anniversary, sending fans worldwide into a frenzy well before the first note dropped. Busan, too, carries deep meaning for the group — it is the hometown of members Jimin and Jung Kook, and the site of "Yet to Come," the sprawling farewell concert that preceded the members' hiatus due to mandatory military service in 2022. The group's return had been anticipated for weeks. "BTS THE CITY ARIRANG BUSAN," a large-scale urban festival running since early June, transformed the city's landmarks into extensions of the "ARIRANG" album's themes, stretching from a grand welcome at Busan Station to a drone light show above Gwangalli Beach. By Saturday evening, 55,000 fans packed the stadium. The crowd had already endured a roughly 75-minute delay the night before a

Jun 13, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS celebrates 13th anniversary with return to Busan

BTS ARIRANG

Busan: More than tour stop for BTS

BUSAN — K-pop sensation BTS is heading back to Busan. Three years and eight months have passed since the group last stood on a stage in Korea's second-largest city, and the place has not been forgotten. On June 5, about a week before the group's concert, the city was already restless with anticipation. The seven-piece K-pop juggernaut — composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — is set to hold the Busan leg of its ongoing "ARIRANG" world tour at Busan Asiad Main Stadium scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The shows come roughly three months after the group's comeback performance at Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square, held to mark the release of its fifth studio album, and about two months after the tour's opening run in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Both Busan dates have long since sold out. For BTS and its fans, Busan is not simply a tour stop. Few cities in the world carry the kind of weight for BTS that the port city does, and the group has chosen its concert dates here carefully. The finale of the two-night Busan show will fall on Friday, the exact date BTS debuted in 2013

Jun 12, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS ARIRANG

BTS in Busan: City guide for visiting fans

BUSAN — The large LED screen on the outer wall of the Grand Josun Busan hotel has been playing the music video of "SWIM," the title track of BTS' latest album, every 30 minutes since last Friday. Standing in front of it, fans from all around the globe were glued to the display, with phones raised and the Haeundae seafront glistening in front of them. It was a scene that would have been unimaginable years ago — but then, a lot has changed since BTS last performed in Busan. The group returns to Busan Asiad Main Stadium Friday and Saturday for two concerts as part of its "ARIRANG" world tour. Scheduled to span 34 cities and 85 dates, the tour is BTS' first as a group after the members' return from mandatory military service, a nearly four-year absence that only seemed to sharpen the appetite of the fandom. The show on Saturday also will fall on the group's 13th debut anniversary, adding a layer of meaning that has not been lost on organizers. That performance will be broadcast live in cinemas worldwide. For the city itself, the concerts are the centerpiece of "BTS THE CITY ARIRANG BUSAN

Jun 12, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS in Busan: City guide for visiting fans

BTS ARIRANG

BTS criticizes alleged Busan hotel price gouging ahead of concerts

BTS members have publicly criticized alleged price gouging by Busan accommodations, issuing a direct warning to business owners who are hiking room rates ahead of the group's concerts in the city next month. During a livestream on fan platform Weverse on Tuesday, BTS leader RM expressed his frustration over accommodation price hikes surrounding the event. "There is so much news regarding accommodations. It does not feel good," RM said. While acknowledging that room rates naturally fluctuate between peak and off-peak seasons, he urged business owners to exercise restraint, saying in the regional Busan dialect, "Let's not overdo it." Bandmates Suga and Busan-native Jimin agreed with his concerns. They said even their own relatives were struggling to find rooms and questioned whether charging several times the usual rate was too extreme. The remarks follow a growing online backlash against alleged price gouging in Busan. Fans criticized cases where some accommodations hiked rates to hundreds of thousands or even millions of won per night during the concert week. With BTS set to hold concerts

May 27, 2026By Hankookilbo

BTS criticizes alleged Busan hotel price gouging ahead of concerts

BTS ARIRANG

BTS fans angered as Busan room rates jump up to tenfold before concerts

BTS fans are criticizing alleged price gouging by Busan accommodations ahead of the group’s concerts in the southern port city, taking to online forums to condemn skyrocketing room rates. One room typically costing 60,000 won ($40) per night reportedly spiked to 760,000 won during the concert period, sparking widespread outrage among fans. BTS will hold concerts in the city on June 12 and 13 as part of its “ARIRANG” world tour. The dates overlap with the group’s debut anniversary on June 13, raising expectations that domestic and global fans will travel to Busan in large numbers. The Busan Metropolitan Government is also preparing related events. Fans criticized the accommodations for excessive rate hikes capitalizing on surging demand surrounding the event. The Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Consumer Agency said they checked 135 Busan hotels and motels, finding average concert-week room rates more than doubled compared to the weekends before and after the event. Motel rates more than tripled from normal levels, while hotel rates nearly tripled. Some properties set prices mo

May 23, 2026By Xportsnews

BTS fans angered as Busan room rates jump up to tenfold before concerts

BTS ARIRANG

Public lodging for foreigners in Busan nearly fully booked ahead of June BTS concert

BUSAN — Public-run accommodations for foreign visitors in Busan have nearly been fully booked ahead of K-pop group BTS' concert in the southeastern port city in June. BTS is set to perform at Busan Asiad Main Stadium on June 12-13 as part of its "ARIRANG" world tour, which kicked off in Goyang last month. Tickets for the Busan concerts sold out during presales. With throngs of BTS fans expected to visit the city, the municipal government in Busan has arranged affordable lodging for foreign tourists at Naewonjeong Temple and two youth centers in the city. The Busan city government started offering reservations for 400 foreigners on April 27 through the Nol Universe travel platform. As of Tuesday, reservations at two youth centers were nearly fully booked except for eight-person rooms, while the Naewonjeong Temple had availability only in 12-person rooms. The reservation rate was in the mid-80 percent range for June 11-12 and 99.56 percent for June 12-13, according to the city government. The K-pop septet returned to the stage in March after a near four-year hiatus as members completed Sou

May 5, 2026By Yonhap

Public lodging for foreigners in Busan nearly fully booked ahead of June BTS concert

BTS ARIRANG

BTS concerts drive longer stays, higher spending among foreign tourists: gov't analysis

Foreign tourists who recently visited the country for concerts by K-pop giant BTS stayed longer and spent more than general inbound tourists, according to a government analysis released Wednesday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute and the Korea Tourism Organization, analyzed on-site surveys, telecommunications and credit card data from the two latest performances by BTS in Korea. Foreign visitors attending the March 21 concert in Seoul's Gwanghwamun area to mark its comeback stayed an average of 8.7 days and spent about 3.53 million won ($2,377). This is 2.6 days longer than the 6.1-day average stay for general inbound tourists in the first quarter of this year, and 1.08 million won more than their average spending of 2.45 million won. Attendees at its three-night concerts earlier this month in Goyang, just northwest of the capital, stayed an average of 7.4 days and spent 2.91 million won. Mobile and card transaction data showed a sharp economic impact around Goyang Stadium, the concert venue, with foreign visitor numbers ris

Apr 29, 2026By Yonhap

BTS concerts drive longer stays, higher spending among foreign tourists: gov't analysis

BTS ARIRANG

BTS returns to Tokyo after 7 years, draws 110,000 fans over 2 nights

K-pop juggernaut BTS performed to capacity crowds at Tokyo Dome on Friday and Saturday, drawing 110,000 fans over two sold-out nights in the group's return to the venue since July 2019. The shows, part of a world tour tied to the group's latest album “ARIRANG,” marked the septet's return to one of Japan's most prominent concert venues after roughly seven years. Inside the stadium, fans waved light sticks in coordinated patterns that swept across the arena. Crowd chants grew louder during high-energy hip-hop tracks like “Not Today” and “MIC Drop,” with the audience closely tracking the group's delivery throughout the sets. A key moment came during “Body to Body,” the opening track from the group’s latest album. As the song incorporated the melody of the traditional Korean folk song “Arirang,” the crowd began singing along in unison, filling the stadium with a chorus that extended beyond the group’s vocals. In a press release from BigHit Music, HYBE Labels Chairman Bang Si-hyuk had pointed to the possibility of such a moment emerging during the tour. The members app

Apr 19, 2026By Pyo Kyung-min

BTS ARIRANG

Why BTS Gwanghwamun show shocked Japanese social media users

Free BTS concert gift bags flood secondary markets at exorbitant prices

BTS celebrates 13th anniversary with return to Busan

Busan: More than tour stop for BTS

BTS in Busan: City guide for visiting fans

BTS criticizes alleged Busan hotel price gouging ahead of concerts

BTS fans angered as Busan room rates jump up to tenfold before concerts

Public lodging for foreigners in Busan nearly fully booked ahead of June BTS concert

BTS concerts drive longer stays, higher spending among foreign tourists: gov't analysis

BTS returns to Tokyo after 7 years, draws 110,000 fans over 2 nights

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