Oh Se-hoon, the Seoul mayor, on the 4th presided over a meeting to review issues related to the BTS comeback event.
The meeting was held ahead of BTS' comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on Mar. 21. It is the first time a singer will hold a solo performance at Gwanghwamun Square, and it will be broadcast live via Netflix to more than 190 countries. It is also the first time an event held in Korea will be broadcast live worldwide on Netflix.
In opening remarks at the meeting, Oh said, "It seems the whole nation is waiting. The return of the king is approaching," adding, "BTS, having fulfilled their defense duty and reunited as a full group, is preparing a comeback event that the Seoul city government finds very necessary and is grateful for."
The city expects visits to Seoul by ARMY, the global BTS fan club, to surge with the concert, and plans to prepare comprehensive measures including event safety management and cracking down on price gouging.
First, with large crowds expected to gather at major locations such as Gwanghwamun Square and Seoul Plaza, the city will push comprehensive safety management measures and focus all efforts on prevention-centered safety management to prepare for various accidents.
It will strengthen safety management plan reviews through expert pre-consultations and subdivide the main venue area to prevent the emergence of vulnerable management zones. The city will ask the organizer to deploy sufficient safety support personnel relative to the crowd size at the concert venue and surrounding areas expected to see crowding.
Crowd trend monitoring will also be reinforced. Centered on the Seoul Disaster and Safety Situation Room, the city will use real-time urban data and CCTV to specially manage real-time crowd density. It will share on-site conditions with the organizer and related agencies (police, fire authorities, and district offices) and activate immediate response systems according to crisis levels.
On the day of the concert, the city will prepare time-specific safety measures. It will guide orderly entry and exit by managing bottleneck sections before and after the performance and will also check plans to prevent crowd surges during the show. To prepare for emergencies, it will deploy fire and emergency personnel and vehicles and secure emergency routes.
Along with transportation measures such as non-stop subway trains passing stations around the venue and bus detours due to road controls, the city will also push on-site safety measures including securing nearby restrooms, suspending the lending of Ttareungyi and shared PM (personal mobility devices) for pedestrian safety, and cracking down on illegal street vendors and illegal parking. In addition, it will review measures for the safety of foreign visitors, such as broadcasting multilingual safety messages on the Seoul Plaza stage screen and electronic billboards.
The city will also push measures to eradicate unfair practices to prevent damage to foreign tourists and residents. Through joint inspections with district offices, it will focus on cracking down on unfair practices such as compliance with posted lodging rates and inducing reservation cancellations.
Earlier, on the 20th of last month, immediately after the Korea Heritage Service conditionally approved the BTS concert, the city conducted on-site monitoring of four hotels near Gwanghwamun jointly with the Korea Hotel Association and the Seoul Tourism Association. It also inspected 22 lodging facilities jointly with Jongno District and Jung District.
The city will continuously monitor price trends and, through industry roundtables with online travel agencies (OTAs) and cooperation with district offices and related agencies, guide price stabilization. To disperse demand, it will promote lodging-dense areas outside Jongno District and Jung District on the VisitSeoul website.
Targeting traditional markets and tourist-dense areas frequented by foreign tourists, the city will conduct on-site inspections using mystery shoppers (undercover inspectors) and will intensively crack down on unfair trade practices such as price gouging.
Unfair practices such as failure to post price lists can be reported by landline telephone, through the Korea Tourism Organization's tourist inconvenience report, or via QR code.
In addition, the city plans to hold various events across Seoul. At major hubs such as DDP, Seoul Plaza, and Hangang Park, it will prepare a variety of programs including street performances, random dance festivals, and participatory events, and in collaboration with adjacent commercial districts such as major traditional markets, it will also operate cultural events and experiences.
Oh Se-hoon said, "This is a golden opportunity to imprint Seoul's appeal as a 'global cultural capital' on the world," adding, "We will comprehensively manage crowd safety, price gouging, and entertainment options to make Seoul a global tourism city that citizens around the world can enjoy."