(Seoul) Tens of thousands of fans flocked to Seoul on Thursday to celebrate the 11th anniversary of K-pop phenomenon BTS, a day after its eldest member Jin ended his military service.
Six members of the group are still serving in the military – a requirement in South Korea where all men under 30 are drafted for at least 18 months – forcing the world’s most popular boy band to take a hiatus since 2022.
The group’s fans, from all over the world, joined the event held at a sports complex in southern Seoul, some waiting as early as 7 a.m. to be sure of receiving 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 an admirer 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 set to perform his first concert in two years, said he would take part 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 social network Weverse.
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 said she “cried a little” when Jin finished his military service.
