BTS, who returned as a full group to Gwanghwamun Square, left a meaning beyond a comeback show. 18.4 million people worldwide watched BTS's comeback, and President Lee Jae-myung praised them, saying "they played a major role in promoting Korea."
BTS held "BTS comeback live: ARIRANG(BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE｜ARIRANG)" at Gwanghwamun Square and the surrounding area in Seoul starting at 8 p.m. on the 21st. It was a stage commemorating the previously released fifth studio album "Arirang (ARIRANG)," and about 104,000 spectators were reported to have gathered at the site.
On the day, BTS completed a variety of performances, including the title track "Swim (SWIM)" from Arirang, tracks from the new album and global hit songs. Among the new album tracks, "Body to Body" quotes the melody of Korea's representative folk song "Arirang," and performers from the National Gugak Center and vocalists joined the stage. Also, the final song "Mikrokosmos" left a deep impression with an effect that expanded starlight across Gwanghwamun and raised the Big Dipper. The production, blending media art and cultural heritage, further highlighted the beauty of Gwanghwamun.
The roughly one-hour concert meant more than just celebrating the release of BTS's new album as they returned as a full group for the first time in about four years. Gwanghwamun Square is a historically symbolic place in Korea. Because the album expresses the members' identity as "Korea," they chose the most symbolic space as their comeback stage.
In particular, because the concert was broadcast live worldwide through Netflix, it was also a meaningful occasion to imprint BTS's identity and Korean sentiment.
The ripple effect was also large. According to FlixPatrol, BTS's comeback live ranked No. 1 on Netflix in 77 countries, becoming the most-watched film on Netflix during the same period. The countries where it ranked No. 1 were distributed across the globe, not only Korea but throughout Asia including Japan, India, Thailand and Israel, North America including the United States and Canada, Europe including Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and South America including Brazil and Argentina.
That also meant promoting Korea and Gwanghwamun to the world. Fans from various countries gathered at the site on the day of the concert, and 18.4 million viewers worldwide watched during the live day. The performance by BTS produced promotional effects for Korea, Seoul and Gwanghwamun. Foreign outlets such as The New York Times also paid attention to this.
President Lee Jae-myung also acknowledged this contribution. Chae Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said at a Cabinet meeting held at the Blue House on the 24th that he believed the live broadcast "brought an incalculable, tremendous effect by gathering the attention of young people around the world in the heart of Seoul."
President Lee Jae-myung said, "It seemed decisive for promoting Gwanghwamun and Korea. They planned and carried it out well. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other ministries also worked hard. They handled safety issues well, so there were no accidents." He thereby acknowledged the enormous promotional effect for Korea achieved by BTS's performance. It is more than a comeback after four years.
[Photo] Provided by BigHit Music.
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