Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Seoul on Thursday to celebrate the 11th anniversary of K-pop phenomenon BTS, the day after its eldest member Jin ended his military service.
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Six members of the group are still serving in the army – a requirement in South Korea where all men under the age of 30 are called up for at least 18 months – forcing the most popular boy band in the world to take a hiatus since 2022.
Fans of the group, from all over the world, joined the event held at a sports complex in southern Seoul and some waited as early as 7 a.m. to be sure to receive free items, such as photo cards of their idols and see Jin return to the stage. There were queues of up to three kilometers.
“My daughter is a fan and we came for her birthday, as a gift,” confided in the crowd Hector Sosa, a 40-year-old Mexican, who landed in Seoul with his daughter and came directly.
Organized by HYBE, the group’s agency, the festival welcomed 400,000 people last year, but the event is expected to attract even more people this year.
Jin, 31, who is due to give his first concert in two years, said he would participate in a “huggathon” – a marathon of hugs – on Thursday, before giving his first concert in two years.
He will hug 1,000 fans drawn by a raffle organized on the Weverse social network.
Jin had said on the platform that the “huggathon” was his idea, and that he had “initially wanted to hug 3,000 fans”, before restricting himself for safety reasons.
“I wanted to hug him so much,” Ann Suwanan, a 19-year-old Thai woman, told AFP.
Dressed in a purple dress, the emblematic color of the group, a big bow of the same color in her hair, bought especially for the occasion in Thailand, she confided to having “cried a little” when Jin finished his military service.
