Thousands of Fans Gather as BTS Launches World Tour in South Korea

A huge crowd of BTS fans packed into a stadium near Seoul on Thursday to see the K-pop supergroup kick off their long-awaited world tour.

Returning to the stage after a nearly four-year hiatus, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook will perform a set drawing from both their catalog and new fifth album, “ARIRANG," their first since band members completed South Korea's mandatory military service.

Despite pouring rain, Thursday’s crowd packed a stadium with a capacity for over



40,000 for the show, which marks the group’s first headline tour performance since their 2021–22 Permission to Dance on Stage tour. 

The shows in South Korea, running through April 12, launch a global tour spanning dozens of shows across the United States, Europe and Asia, which analysts say could generate hundreds of million s of dollars in revenue per quarter.

The concert comes less than a month after BTS marked their comeback with a free concert at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square.