45,000 fans allowed to attend BTS concerts next month

A poster for BTS's upcoming "Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul" concerts / Courtesy of Big Hit Music

K-pop supergroup BTS' upcoming concerts in Seoul will draw up to 45,000 fans in total to become the largest live music events in Korea since the start of the pandemic.

The culture ministry has allowed the group to invite 15,000 spectators to each of its three concerts to be held at a nearly 70,000-capacity outdoor stadium next month, Rep. Jeon Yonggi of the ruling Democratic Party said Monday.

It will be the largest number of spectators to attend a music concert in Korea since the pandemic began in early 2020.

The septet will present the "Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul" shows at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul on March 10 and March 12 to 13. It will be the group's first concerts in front of a live audience in South Korea in about two-and-a-half years. The last time the band performed live in Korea was for the BTS World Tour "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" concerts at the same venue in October 2019.

For fans who are unable to attend the shows in person, the March 10 and 13 shows will also be streamed live online, while the March 12 concert will be available at theaters across the world for "live viewing" events.

South Korea began allowing in-person concerts from November 2021 under the "Living with COVID-19" strategy. Currently, music concerts are capped at 50 percent of capacity or 4,000 spectators for indoor facilities to provide some physical distancing. All spectators are required to show proof of vaccination or recent negative test results while organizers must have a sufficient number of safety management workers in place.

Still, the number 15,000 is just 22.9 percent of the 65,599 seats at the stadium.

"We approved the concerts on the condition that the number of safety management workers should be 5 percent of the number of spectators," a ministry official said, adding that the ministry will send officials to the site to check if the safety and distancing measures are followed. (Yonhap)