Crowded event pits some BTS fans against Big Hit

International fans gather on Saturday at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul where a BTS fan meeting, dubbed “BTS 5TH MUSTER [MAGIC SHOP],” was held. Yonhap

By Jung Hae-myoung

BTS has successfully hosted its fifth global fan meeting tour “BTS 5TH MUSTER [MAGIC SHOP]” which continued for four days ― two days each in Busan and Seoul, as over 258,000 fans gathered there.

However, the crowded event has made some fans harbor hard feelings about the way Big Hit organized it.

Although many enjoyed the tour and other events held on the sidelines outside the stadium, some said the concert and ticket distribution process had some problems and need to be improved.

Big Hit, BTS' agency, strictly banned mass ticket resales. It instead introduced a lottery system under which fans receive their seats randomly after entering a lottery. The one-ticket-per-person rule was applied strictly. Although it was introduced to frustrate ticket scalpers, fans' choices were largely restricted and they had to take whatever seat they were given.

“Many fans suffer because of ticket scalpers who purchase many tickets by using a software macro,” Big Hit explained. “We adopted the one-ticket-per-one-person rule to make sure everyone participates in the fan meetings fairly.”

More complaints were also raised regarding the strict identification control. At the ticket booths, workers demanded certification for each and every guest. One should bring extra documents to weed out forgery.

Problems arose among under-aged fans who bought tickets through their parents. Although the fans brought copies of their student IDs, they were not allowed in because copies were not allowed. For the parents who bought the tickets for their children, they had to bring family certification to show their relation.

“I could not make it to the concert. I was rejected because a double-coated student ID card is likely to be a forgery,” said a high school student who tried to attend the fan meeting on Saturday.

Similar complaints were also raised over the Busan fan meetings held on June 15 to 16. For both days, a number of fans complained because they were unable to pick up tickets that their parents bought on their behalf.

Some others expressed their dissatisfaction over the preparations for the fan meeting.

At the Olympic Gymnastics Arena, events were prepared for the fans to enjoy, such as “Quiz Show,” “Dance Class” and “Live Karaoke.”

The fan club that was in charge of preparing placards had asked Big Hit how many signs were needed. Although the request was made in April, the company replied only two weeks before the actual fan meeting, and the amount exceeded the initial quantity.

“This was an event voluntarily prepared and fundraised by fans. However Big Hit agency was inept in handling the situation,” 28-year-old Kim, an ARMY fan in Korea, told a daily local paper.

In response, Big Hit apologized to the fan community saying “there were some mistakes during the working process and coordinating the event with the fan community.”