BTS Gwanghwamun Crowd: HYBE & Seoul Estimate 104,000, Not 260,000 – Arirang Performance

A staggering crowd of over 104,000 people gathered in Gwanghwamun Square to witness the highly anticipated return of the boy group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan).

On March 21st at 8 PM KST, BTS (RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook) held their fifth full-length album ‘ARIRANG’ release 기념 performance ‘BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG’ at Gwanghwamun Square. The event was officially titled ‘BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG’.

HYBE Corporation stated, “According to our internal estimates, conducted independently by our company and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, we estimate that the total number of attendees for today’s performance, both inside and outside the designated area, is 104,000.”

Police unofficially estimated the crowd size to be around 42,000. In contrast, the Seoul Metropolitan Government had initially projected an attendance of 260,000.

The official seating capacity within Gwanghwamun Square was 22,000. Many fans who were unable to secure tickets watched the performance from the surrounding areas and nearby streets.

BTS released their fifth full-length album, ‘ARIRANG’, on the 20th at 1 PM KST through various online music platforms. The album features a total of 14 tracks, including the title track ‘SWIM‘.

‘ARIRANG’ achieved remarkable sales figures, selling 3.98 million copies on its first day and securing the top spot on the Hanteo Daily Chart. This figure surpasses the team’s previous first-week sales record (3.37 million copies) in just one day, marking a new milestone for BTS.