The first South Korean group to reach the top of the American and British charts at the age of ten. Seoul on Monday kicked off a week of celebrations honoring the first decade of K-pop supergroup BTS.
On Monday morning, fans gathered outside the offices of his agency HYBE, whose façade was painted with a huge mural with the effigy of the seven members of the group, to take selfies or record TikTok videos of the event. Fans - known as ARMY - from all over the world made the trip for the occasion and the municipality of Seoul set up a special program to welcome visitors.
"It's exciting to be here. It's exhilarating to be surrounded by other ARMAs," said Anne Micic, a 55-year-old scientist. "When you meet other ARMYs, it's almost like you have another family, it's really great," the Australian fan continued.
"BTS saved my life"
BTS "saved my life," Claudia Agustin, a 23-year-old Indonesian fan who works in accounting, said in Seoul, adding that her words helped her during difficult times in her life. She said she was "really, really proud" of the ten years of the group and its seven members. "I know how hard they've fought since they started, and then they've really managed to win. Today, everyone knows them," she added. BTS, which debuted on June 13, 2013, has popularized South Korean music across the globe, raking in billions of dollars by building a global community of fans.
The city of Seoul has released a special tourist map that shows 13 places to visit in the capital, including the HYBE agency office in Yongsan and the historic Gyeongbok Palace, where the septet filmed a special edition of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Seoul's tourist hotspots, such as Namsan Tower and Dongdaemun Design Plaza, will be illuminated in purple, the color of the band's fans, for the occasion.
A special set of stamps unveiled by the Korean Post Office is already out of stock online, with the 120,000 lots available taking only three hours to fully sell out after they went on sale on May 22, a post official said, saying he was surprised. Fans will still be able to pick them up in person, however, because starting Tuesday, the official anniversary of the band's debut, about 80,000 stamps and other goodies will be available at all post offices.
Currently on hiatus
The group, currently on hiatus since two of its members are doing their military service, mandatory in South Korea, still released last week a new single. "Take Two" (which can be translated as "take number two"), is intended to herald a new chapter for the group after a prolific decade.
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A handwritten letter from J-Hope, who began his military service in April, was published Monday on global fandom platform Weverse. "I guess I will be very disciplined militarily" by the time the letter is revealed, the artist writes in the document. "Whatever the day, I sincerely thank you and I love you," he wrote to his fans.
Those members who are not yet doing their military service are developing their solo careers during this time, a carefully planned strategy, experts say. "All male K-pop groups will have to take a break or transition because of compulsory military service in South Korea," notes Jeff Benjamin, a Billboard columnist specializing in K-pop. "But not all bands prepared adequately like BTS, with pre-prepared music and meaningful content," he said.