A huge crowd of BTS fans gathered on Thursday in a stadium near Seoul to watch the K-pop group kick off their long-awaited world tour. Back on stage after a four-year hiatus, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook will perform a repertoire drawing from both their discography and their fifth album, “ARIRANG,” the first since the group members completed their mandatory military service in South Korea. Despite heavy rain, the crowd filled the stadium with a capacity of over 40,000 seats to see the group’s first concert since the “Permission to Dance on Stage” tour of 2021-2022.
The concerts in South Korea, running until April 12, mark the beginning of a world tour with dozens of dates in the United States, Europe, and Asia, which analysts predict could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per quarter.
Less than a month ago, BTS made their comeback with a free concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.
All seven members of BTS have completed their mandatory military service, with Suga being the last to be discharged in June 2025. In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to serve up to 21 months of military service as part of a conscription system aimed at deterring aggression from rival North Korea.
“ARIRANG,” named after a centuries-old Korean folk song considered an unofficial anthem across the Korean peninsula, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The song “Swim” also reached the top of the charts.
BTS, short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean, debuted in June 2013 with the hip-hop influenced song “2 Cool 4 Skool.” The group released three full albums before truly taking off with the album “Wings” in 2016.
The global breakthrough came in 2017 when “DNA” entered the Billboard Hot 100, making BTS the first Korean boy band to achieve such a feat. The success of the song was followed by a performance at the American Music Awards, expanding the group’s audience overseas.
The group’s world tour will head to Tokyo next, before moving on to North America. The group will have two concerts in Toronto at the end of August.
They will then travel to Europe, South America, and Asia. BTS is expected to perform in Australia in early 2027, with a final stop in Manila next March.
