{"id":594030,"date":"2026-04-10T04:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594030\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T04:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T04:34:15","slug":"k-pop-supergroup-bts-kick-off-world-tour-in-south-korea-after-4-year-hiatus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594030\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop supergroup BTS kick off world tour in South Korea after 4-year hiatus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\" alt=\"Text to Speech Icon\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<p>A huge crowd of BTS fans packed into a stadium near Seoul, South Korea, on Thursday to see the K-pop supergroup kick off their long-awaited world tour.<\/p>\n<p>Returning to the stage after a nearly four-year hiatus, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook will perform a set drawing on both their back catalogue and new album, ARIRANG \u2014 their fifth, and the first since band members completed South Korea&#8217;s mandatory military service.<\/p>\n<p>Despite pouring rain, Thursday&#8217;s crowd packed a stadium with a capacity of more than 40,000 for the show, which marks the group&#8217;s first headline tour performance since their 2021\u201322 Permission to Dance on Stage tour. <\/p>\n<p>The shows in South Korea, running through April 12, launch a global tour spanning dozens of dates across the United States, Europe and Asia, which analysts say could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue per quarter. <\/p>\n<p>PHOTOS |  Fans gather for BTS world tour kickoff:<\/p>\n<p>Thursday&#8217;s concert comes less than a month after BTS marked their comeback with a massive free concert at Seoul&#8217;s Gwanghwamun Square in front of more than 20,000 fans in person, and many more who tuned in to the livestream on Netflix.<\/p>\n<p>All seven members of BTS completed their mandatory military service, with Suga being the last to be discharged in June 2025. He reportedly served at government-related facilities and organizations instead of military camps, due to a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n<p>In South Korea, all able-bodied men between 18 and 28 years old are required by law to perform up to 21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.<\/p>\n<p>ARIRANG, named after a centuries-old Korean folk song regarded as an unofficial anthem across the Korean peninsula, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The single Swim also made it to the top of the charts.<\/p>\n<p>WATCH |  K-pop group BTS is officially back from multi-year hiatus:<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774111569_523_default.jpg\"  alt=\"\" class=\"thumbnail\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"video-item-title\">K-pop group BTS is officially back from multi-year hiatus | Hanomansing Tonight<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest bands in the world, BTS, is making its comeback after a multi-year hiatus with a global tour and a new album. The K-pop band&#8217;s return kicks off Saturday at Seoul&#8217;s Gwanghwamun Square, one of South Korea&#8217;s most famous landmarks.<\/p>\n<p>BTS \u2014 short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, or &#8220;Bulletproof Boy Scouts&#8221; in Korean \u2014 debuted in June 2013 and launched with the hip-hop-heavy album 2 Cool 4 Skool, releasing three full-length projects before really gaining momentum with their 2016 album, Wings.<\/p>\n<p>Their global breakthrough came in 2017 when the song DNA entered the Billboard Hot 100, making BTS the first Korean boy band to achieve such a feat. The song&#8217;s success was followed by a performance at the American Music Awards, further fuelling their international fan base.<\/p>\n<p>The band&#8217;s world tour heads to Tokyo next, before moving through North America, Europe, South America and Asia. BTS is set to play Australia in early 2027, with a final stop in Manila, Philippines, next March.\u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":{"0":"post-594030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}