BTS countdown begins as album drop, Gwanghwamun street show take shape

The steps at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 22. YONHAP

SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) — The countdown has begun.

Global K-pop phenomenon BTS is preparing a long-awaited return — not on a closed stadium stage, but potentially on the streets of central Seoul — as the group plans to unveil new music for the first time in nearly four years ahead of its upcoming ARIRANG world tour.

The focal point of the comeback calendar is March 20, when BTS is set to release a new album and make its first public appearance as a full seven-member group since 2022. The performance is planned for the Gwanghwamun area, a dense civic and cultural hub surrounded by government offices, royal palaces and major tourist sites.

Authorities have granted conditional approval for the event, though the precise venue and timing remain under review due to safety considerations. The date falls on a Friday during business hours, complicating crowd-control planning in one of Seoul’s busiest districts.

Even so, anticipation is already reshaping travel behavior.

According to Hotels.com on Wednesday, inbound travel searches to South Korea surged within 48 hours of the world tour announcement on January 13. Compared with the previous week, searches for Seoul jumped 155 percent, while Busan spiked 2,375 percent.

By country, demand for Seoul was led by Japan, where searches rose 400 percent, followed by Taiwan (260 percent), Hong Kong (170 percent) and the United States (95 percent). For Busan, Japan again topped the list, with searches soaring 10,545 percent, while Hong Kong rose 7,100 percent, Taiwan 1,275 percent and the United States 835 percent.

This photo provided by BIGHIT Music show K-pop superstar BTS (courtasy of BIGHIT Music)

The online surge is already translating into fully booked rooms.

“We have seen a noticeable increase in online bookings for the period around the Gwanghwamun performance,” said Kim Jae-heon, a hotel manager in Seoul.

The spillover effect is visible across other tour cities as well. According to the Goyang city government, 820 rooms at nearby accommodations — including Sono Calm Goyang — sold out shortly after the tour dates were announced.

At the same time, prices are rising sharply.

Listings on Agoda show that one hotel near a concert venue priced rooms at 76,000 won per night as of early June, but raised the rate to 587,000 won for the concert date — nearly an eightfold increase.

The combination of search spikes, rapid sell-outs and abrupt price hikes underscores the scale of BTS’s return — not just as a cultural event, but as a nationwide economic ripple already visible in real-world data.

Online, the sense of anticipation is equally intense.

On social media platform X, international fans are amplifying the countdown with posts blending humor, encouragement and ticketing anxiety. One fan wrote that “there is no bad seat at a BTS concert,” sharing footage from upper-level seats while praising the synchronized glow of the “ARMY Bomb” light sticks.

Others posted parody videos pretending to sneak into venues disguised as security staff, only to burst into dance once the music starts.

Still, excitement comes with pressure.

“Future me is happily vibing at a BTS concert right now,” one user wrote, “while present me is going bald from the stress of getting tickets.”

Whether on the streets of Gwanghwamun or thousands of kilometers away, fans are now united by a single calendar — counting down to a return that is already moving markets before the first note is played.
Ryu Yuna Reporter Julia37@ajupress.com

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