Seoul city on alert over BTS 10th anniversary celebration

Two women walk in front of a billboard showing K-pop group BTS' members during an event to celebrate its 10th debut anniversary, in Seoul, June 14. AP-Yonhap

By Lee Hyo-jin

A crowd of over 300,000 BTS fans is expected to gather at Han River Park in Yeouido on Saturday to celebrate the K-pop juggernaut's 10th debut anniversary, prompting Seoul city authorities to implement safety measures.

Tens of thousands of fans are anticipated to attend “The BTS Festa @Yeouido,” the main event of a two-week-long festival held to celebrate the megastar's10th debut anniversary which falls on June 13. BTS' agency HYBE kicked off this year's festival on Monday jointly with the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Friday urgently ordered related authorities including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, as well as the National Police Agency, to thoroughly prepare safety measures.

“There are concerns about possible crowd accidents as the events would end late at night and a large number of people are expected to move on bridges and roads together in a short period of time,” he said, calling for traffic control and crowd management measures.

The prime minister also ordered organizers to provide translated versions of safety guidelines during the even to ensure that foreign participants are also informed.

Officers from Yeongdeungpo Police Station said they will conduct an overall on-site safety inspection prior to the event and come up with traffic control and crowd safety measures.

On the day of the event, the police will close the road from the southern end of Mapo Bridge to 63 Building starting from 2 p.m., and other roads near the Han River Park may also be closed depending on the traffic situation. Some 630 officers and city employees will be deployed for on-site crowd control.

The traffic authorities will increase the operation of subways and buses from 10 p.m. to prevent overcrowding at stations after the event ends.

Saturday's festival will feature various events for visitors such as the BTS History Wall, an exhibition of the group's stage costumes, a sculpture created to mark the anniversary and a booth for getting tattoo stickers. Group leader RM will meet in person with fans at the “ARMY Lounge” at 5 p.m., which will be followed by a large-scale fireworks display from 8:30 p.m.