City officials mobilized for BTS's comeback performance to be granted one-day special leave
Published: 25 Mar. 2026, 13:33
Updated: 25 Mar. 2026, 16:49
![The stage for BTS's comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square is being dismantled on March 22. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/25/446ffea7-8a21-4592-80bb-020070778a95.jpg)
The stage for BTS's comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square is being dismantled on March 22. [YONHAP]
Seoul will grant city officials who had been mobilized for boy band BTS’s comeback performance a one-day special leave, following controversy over the large-scale staffing and weekend work.
BTS held a comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Saturday, for which police prepared for potential safety risks amid concerns that a large crowd of up to 260,000 people could appear.
The leave can be used within 2 months from the end of the event and applies to all personnel who were ordered to work on the performance.
The event drew about 104,000 attendees to the Gwanghwamun area in Jongno District, central Seoul, far below the initial estimate of 260,000, leading to criticism that too many public officials had been mobilized based on inaccurate crowd projections.
Of the personnel deployed, approximately 4,800 were the performance organizers’ staff, while 3,400 were workers mobilized by the city. Among those 3,400, around 2,000 were public officials, including roughly 200 each from Jongno District and Jung District, both in central Seoul.
Criticism emerged that an excessive number of civil servants had been mobilized due to flawed forecasts. However, the police maintained that “when it comes to public safety, an excessive response is necessary.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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