When the blue lights went out, the crowd fell silent. On the outskirts of Seoul, thousands of fans from around the world gathered to celebrate the end of military service for BTS, the most famous K-pop group, and turned toward two giant screens. For several minutes, smartphones and light sticks in hand, they watched clips of performances by the seven-member group, the most popular South Korean group in the world.
Every hour, this ritual set the pace for the BTS Festa 2025, a marketing event at Kintex, South Korea’s largest exhibition center, in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, on June 13 and 14. The event also marked the group’s 12th anniversary and followed the successive discharges of four members on June 10 and 11, while the last member was released on June 21. Two others had already completed their service in 2024.
To mark their return, a multitude of interactive booths featuring the boy band awaited fans: augmented reality photo ops, pre-recorded voice messages from the members, spaces dedicated to each idol’s personal items and even a wall mural to color. In the evening, the luckiest were able to attend a concert by J-Hope, the group’s iconic dancer, marking the end of his first world solo tour.
You have 79.28% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
