On the 21st, when the group BTS holds its comeback concert, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. Foreign tourists walked out of a nearby convenience store carrying newspapers they had bought. They were extras and special editions aimed at the BTS fandom "ARMY."
A convenience store owner, A, 66, said, "One Japanese customer bought 20 copies of the newspaper at once," and added, "It has been a long time since newspapers sold this much."
The Chosun Ilbo placed photos of BTS members on the front page with the main headline "Today, Gwanghwamun becomes the center of the world." It also renamed its weekend section "Anyway, Weekend" to "Anyway, BTS." The 16-page special edition introduced the seven members over seven pages, one per page, and included a BTS chronology, an introduction to the new album, a guide to the venue, and interviews with ARMYs around the world.
Newspapers that do not publish Saturday editions, including The Kyunghyang Shinmun, The Seoul Shinmun, Segye Ilbo, and Hankyoreh, also put out BTS specials that day. The Kyunghyang Shinmun devoted a full page to the lyrics and fan-chant guide for BTS's new album title track "Swim (SWIM)." Business dailies such as Maeil Business Newspaper and Korea Economic Daily, as well as the English-language The Korea Herald, also released special editions.
For ARMY, special edition newspapers are seen as "merch." Even before, newspapers carrying BTS members' advertisements sold like hotcakes.
As of that day, special edition newspapers were listed and in transaction on secondhand platforms for 5,000 to 10,000 won.