BTS comeback show opens new era of K-pop infused with Korean tradition

K-pop boy group BTS performs during its comeback concert "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE: ARIRANG" at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, March 21. Yonhap

Seven figures in black jackets resembling "dopo" — traditional Korean overcoats — or armor walked along the "eodo," the ceremonial path once reserved for Joseon kings at Gyeongbok Palace. As they took the stage at Gwanghwamun Square, five female "sorikkun," or traditional vocalists, dressed in hanbok belted out the folk song "Arirang" to the rhythm of drums and bamboo flutes.

The visual spectacle marked the opening of "BTS COMEBACK LIVE: ARIRANG" on March 21, ending a nearly four-year hiatus for the pop group. Streamed to 190 countries on Netflix, the concert before tens of thousands of fans signaled a cultural homecoming. It showed that the band placed Korean cultural identity at the center of their global strategy. "As a group made up entirely of Koreans, we will return to our roots," the members said.

BTS fans read copies of The Korea Times' special edition for the BTS comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, March 21. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

The pivot to tradition represented a significant departure. According to a March 22 report by the Hankook Ilbo, there was some internal pushback within BTS while finalizing the concept for their comeback. The group felt the pressure of a significant change in direction after reaching the peak of their career with bright disco-pop hits "Dynamite" in 2020 and "Butter" in 2021, prior to their hiatus.

HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, the executive producer of the 14-track album "ARIRANG," drove the decision to push through that resistance. He persuaded the members to incorporate the traditional folk song into the opening track, "Body to Body."

"Imagine foreigners singing along to 'Arirang' at a stadium performance," Bang reportedly said.

He also pushed for the venue, arguing that because BTS started in Korea and became a global phenomenon, their comeback's starting point had to be the country's most symbolic space. It was also his idea to fill the album's interlude with the sound of the Bell of King Seongdeok from the ancient Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 935).

The powerful performance unfolded against a stage framed by LED screens. Beyond them, the exterior wall of Gwanghwamun displayed vivid media art themed around the four trigrams of Korea's national flag, representing heaven, earth, water and fire.

A group photo and illustration of stage costumes for the seven members of BTS, designed by Songzio for the group's Gwanghwamun Square concert / Courtesy of BigHit Music, Netflix and Songzio

Mix of tradition, contemporary pop

The blend of tradition and contemporary pop extended to the costumes. Designer Songzio told The New York Times he aimed to express the brushstroke effect seen in Korean landscape paintings while maintaining the fluidity essential to hanbok.

Foreign fans in the crowd appreciated the approach. Meta, a 58-year-old from Norway, described the new album as "historical music."

"Watching the scene where women wearing hanbok come out and perform together in front of the palace, I got the feeling that they are doing 'K-music,'" she said.

Valeria, a 31-year-old from Mexico, noted the visual appeal. "Hanbok is colorful like traditional Mexican clothing, but the appearance or design of the clothes is vastly different," she said.

Incorporating traditional elements such as gugak, or Korean traditional music, traditional attire like hanbok and ancient palaces into K-pop is not entirely new. Notable examples include girl group BLACKPINK wearing modernized hanbok in their "How You Like That" music video, and the pansori-based band Leenalchi drawing global attention with "Tiger Is Coming."

Kim Hee-sun, a professor at Kookmin University, said that as K-pop evolved from purely auditory music into a visual performance art, singers became performers. This shift created the conditions for K-pop to actively incorporate traditional elements.

K-pop boy group BTS performs during its comeback concert "BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE: ARIRANG" at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, March 21. Yonhap

However, the Gwanghwamun Square concert raised the bar for K-pop's fusion of tradition and contemporary performance, turning the historic area into a performance venue despite disrupting some residents and businesses.

This marks a shift from early K-pop, when many believed Korean elements had to be excluded to succeed globally. Today, interest in traditional culture has surged, helped in part by the massive success of the K-pop-themed Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters."

Performance critic Hwang Seung-kyung said that BTS placing Korean sentiment at the forefront of their album shows that global markets have evolved.

"Content with a clear language and context of its own carries stronger persuasive power and longevity," Hwang said.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.