Foreign residents make up bulk of international crowd at BTS comeback performance
Published: 27 Mar. 2026, 11:38
![Boy band BTS performs onstage during its comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 21. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/27/cd2fa155-4f10-47e5-8f9a-c3a55739b1d7.jpg)
Boy band BTS performs onstage during its comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March 21. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Foreign residents, not overseas visitors, comprised the bulk of foreign attendees at BTS’s comeback performance in central Seoul that took place last Saturday, according to city data.
Data released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Friday shows that 75,927 people gathered between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the vicinity of Gwanghwamun Square, the venue of the performance, such as Deoksu Palace and City Hall Station.
The boy band took the stage for an hour to promote its fifth full-length album, “Arirang,” its first in nearly four years, for a comeback event that was also livestreamed on Netflix.
Foreign nationals accounted for 19,170 people — approximately a quarter of the total. Of those, 13,889 were long-term residents, or those who had stayed for more than 91 days, compared to 5,281 short-term visitors, indicating that foreign residents, such as international students, outnumbered overseas tourists.
The data comes as city officials anticipated an influx of foreign tourists and a boost to local businesses, both tied to the performance.
![BTS perform in Gwanghwamun Square on March 21. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/27/72abea06-c5cc-410b-aeb4-0849d8d3b752.jpg)
BTS perform in Gwanghwamun Square on March 21. [YONHAP]
The city estimates the number of people present at a given place at a specific time via mobile base station signals. Authorities also incorporate immigration data to break down foreign nationals, including visitors who have not registered as residents, by nationality.
Of the 19,170 foreign nationals, Thai nationals were the largest group at 1,740, followed by Vietnamese at 1,184, Indians at 1,126 and Japanese at 1,098.
Separate real-time city data estimated that approximately 46,000 to 48,000 people gathered at 8:30 p.m. in areas including Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul Plaza and near the Seoul Metropolitan Council building. Sections of these places were zoned off, and large screens were placed to allow spectators to watch the performance.
“Real-time urban data does not include foreign tourists who do not use roaming services. The data released later is more accurate,” a city official said.
HYBE, the event’s organizer, put the total attendance at around 104,000 people.
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 HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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