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\nInfographic showing share price for the South Korean firm HYBE, the agency for K-pop act BTS, with key developments for the group in recent years<\/p>\n
K-pop megastars BTS will kick off their first world tour in four years in April, their label has said.<\/p>\n
The tour is part of a hotly anticipated comeback for the South Koreans, whose music has become a global phenomenon.<\/p>\n
BTS – known for funky and fun hits like Dynamite and Butter – hold the record as the most-streamed group on Spotify and are the first K-pop act to have topped both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Artist 100 charts in the United States.<\/p>\n
But the Bulletproof Boy Scouts – as their name means in Korean – have not toured or released music since 2022, as they underwent the national military service required of all South Korean men under the age of 30.<\/p>\n
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Now that all seven members have completed their military service, the group’s label announced on New Year’s Day that they would release a new album in March before heading on tour the following month.<\/p>\n
Spanning 34 cities with 79 performances, it will be the largest-ever single tour by a K-pop group in terms of total shows and the “widest regional reach for a South Korean artist”, according to the group’s agency, HYBE.<\/p>\n
The world tour will kick off in South Korea’s Goyang on 9 April, with two additional concerts in the city before moving on to neighbouring Japan.<\/p>\n
They will then head to the United States and Europe, with the tour ending in March 2027 in Manila.<\/p>\n
The group’s label said that more cities will be announced, including additional stops in Japan and the Middle East.<\/p>\n
No Irish dates have been announced.<\/p>\n
BTS’s new album – as yet unnamed – will be their first since the anthology Proof, which became South Korea’s bestselling record of 2022.<\/p>\n
‘Right kidney is waving’<\/p>\n
BTS’s famously loyal fanbase – known as ARMY – reacted with elation at the news of the world tour.<\/p>\n
One fan wrote in response to the news on Facebook that to buy a ticket their “Right kidney is waving.”<\/p>\n
“Army hunger games are about to start,” another wrote, drawing a comparison between fans trying to get tickets and a series of popular young adult novels in which contestants fight to the death.<\/p>\n
\nInfographic showing share price for the South Korean firm HYBE, the agency for K-pop act BTS, with key developments for the group in recent years<\/p>\n
BTS is big business in South Korea – before their military service, they generated more than 5.5 trillion won (\u20ac3.2 billion) for the country per year, according to Seoul’s Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.<\/p>\n
The figure is equivalent to roughly 0.2% of South Korea’s total GDP.<\/p>\n
HYBE’s shares traded higher at Wednesday’s market open on news of BTS’s world tour, rising around 3%.<\/p>\n
Investment bank IBK Securities has projected that the firm’s operating profits this year would soar tenfold compared to 2025.<\/p>\n
“Based on the full tour schedule, around 4.5 million people are expected to attend,” said analyst Kim Yu-hyuk.<\/p>\n
Source: AFP<\/p>\n