Boy Band BTS Perform What Could Be Last Concert For Years

South Korean boy band BTS performed together on Saturday for the first time since the shocking announcement in June that the band would take an indefinite hiatus, attracting fans desperate to see the group together for what could be the last time in years.

Bloomberg reports the concert in Busan is to promote South Korea’s second-biggest city as a candidate to host the 2030 World Expo and drew tens of thousands of fans from around the world, underscoring the group’s role as cultural superstars as well as an economic powerhouse that will be hard to replace.

The band has said its members want to focus on solo projects and, while it hasn’t said how long the hiatus would last, the oldest singer in the group faces a deadline this year to begin compulsory military service, so it could be years before the whole band could get back together.

“This is the last concert that was planned,” said Kim Seok-jin, BTS’ oldest member, who was given a two-year reprieve to carry out his military service. “As I wasn’t sure when we could do a concert again, I tried to keep all my emotions here. But we can always have another one and you will come again, right?”

The seven-member pop group has been central to South Korea’s creative wave, known as hallyu, that rippled through Asia before reaching mainstream consumers in the US and Europe. Together with Psy’s viral hit song “Gangnam Style” and black comedy thriller Parasite, K-pop has helped to boost the country’s appeal as a cultural force and tourist destination.

 

A study in 2018 by Hyundai Research Institute showed the total economic value that the group could create between 2014 and 2023 would be worth 56 trillion won ($39 billion). South Korea posted a record trade surplus in intellectual property rights in the first half of this year, according to Bank of Korea data, helped by the overseas popularity of BTS as well as K-dramas and movies.

That’s why some polls show a majority of South Koreans, not just the dedicated fans who are known as Army, think the group’s members should be given exemptions from military service, or offered an alternative.

Such exemptions, however, are controversial in a country where inequality and privilege are touchy subjects. Male citizens aged 18 to 28 are required to serve for about two years to guard against North Korea. Kim Seok-jin was given the reprieve just prior to his 28th birthday when parliament passed the so-called BTS law, a revision that raised the age for valued K-pop stars to 30. That reprieve expires this year as he turns 30 on Dec. 4, and the second-oldest member Min Yoon-ki is due to be enlisted in 2024. Culture Minister Park Bo-gyoon said earlier this month that there will be a decision on the matter by December, Yonhap reported.