South Korea has raised its terror alert level in the capital Seoul ahead of a BTS comeback concert that is expected to draw more than 260,000 fans.
On Wednesday, prime minister Kim Min Seok’s office said the alert level in Seoul’s Jongno and Jung districts had been raised from the lowest “attention” level to “caution”, the second tier in a four-level system.
The heightened level will apply Thursday through Saturday midnight, according to The Korea Times.
“Given the uncertainties driven by international affairs, the government concluded that it is hard to rule out the possibility of a potential terror threat to the event like BTS concert where a large crowd would flock and will take a pre-emptive move to ensure the people’s safety as a priority,” the office said in a statement.
President Lee Jae Myung hoped “the event will once again prove the great power of the culture created by South Korea and become a special moment long remembered by people around the world”.
He said authorities had taken a number of safety measures in collaboration with relevant agencies and ministries and had plans for “traffic and crowd management before and after the performance, as well as responses to emergencies”.
“I hope that BTS’s performance proves once again the great cultural power created by Korea and will be a special moment that will be remembered for a long time by people all over the world,” he wrote on X.
At a cabinet meeting held in Sejong city on Tuesday, the president brought up the “possibility of terrorism” and urged officials to ensure they were prepared.
The outdoor concert is set to take place in Seoul’s historic Gwanghwamun Square on 21 March, a day after the group’s new album, Arirang, is released. The concert will be livestreamed on Netflix.
Unlike stadiums and arenas typically used for K-pop concerts, Gwanghwamun Square is an open civic plaza, located in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. One of the country’s most iconic public spaces, the square is used for national ceremonies, civic events, and protest gatherings.
The boyband composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook was on a hiatus since 2022 while the members completed their mandatory military service.
The new album release will be followed by a 82-show world tour covering 34 cities in 23 countries between April 2026 and March 2027.
Initially, the concert was open to 15,000 ticketed attendees. However, the demand for the group’s first concert in four years saw organisers add new standing areas to accommodate more fans.
According to BigHit Music, the Hybe subsidiary that manages the group, the venue can now accommodate about 22,000 fans. Large screens will be installed in the surrounding areas to accommodate fans without tickets to the central enclosure.
According to the state news agency Yonhap, police estimate the crowd around the performance stage to go up to 260,000.
The concert, one of the largest gatherings the city is expected to see, comes four years after the devastating Halloween crush in Seoul killed 159 people. The disaster occurred in a narrow, sloping alley in the Itaewon district, where large crowds surged with little control or emergency access, leading to a fatal crush as people were unable to move or escape.
Police said the BTS concert would involve a “safety-first” approach, with 6,000 personnel deployed across central Seoul to manage the crowds, focusing on choke points around Gwanghwamun Square and nearby subway stations.
Last week, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they would be dealing strictly with miscreants, and would “pursue and apprehend” suspects if “police resources are wasted or the event is disrupted due to public threats, such as bomb threats”.
BigHit is also organising a citywide programme, titled BTS The City: Arirang Seoul, that will run from Thursday and see themed installations, pop-up events, and branded spaces all over the city.
