BTS members talk about their first in-person concert in Seoul today in more than 2 years


K-pop superstars BTS will be holding their first in-person concert in Seoul starting today, March 10, after more than two years.

BTS will hold their “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage-Seoul” from March 10, 12 and 13 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, the main venue used for the 1988 Summer Olympics.

A BTS billboard outside the Seoul Olympic Stadium where the concert will be held from March 10, 12 and 13 (Photo courtesy of Marina Im)

BTS will hold their BTS Permission to Dance on Stage-Seoul at the Seoul Olympic Stadium (Photo courtesy of Marina Im)

The Seoul Olympic Stadium where the BTS concert will be held on March 10, 12 and 13 (Photo courtesy of Marina Im)

The March 10 concert will start at 7 p.m. KST with online streaming. The March 12 concert will start at 6 p.m. KST with global theater live-viewing in many countries including the Philippines. The last day on March 13 will also start at 6 p.m. KST with online streaming.

This will be BTS’ first in-person concert in Seoul in two years and five months since the “2019 BTS World Tour Love Yourself: Speak Yourself The Final” that was held on Oct. 26, 27 and 29, 2019 at the same venue in Seoul.

Due to the Covid-19 situation in South Korea, only 15,000 people will be allowed to attend the BTS concert per day for a total of 45,000 in three days. It will still be the biggest concert in Korea since the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020.

The Seoul Olympic Stadium has 65,599 seats available and the approved number of attendees per day is equivalent to 22.9 percent of the venue’s capacity.

Big Hit Music released on March 10 the guidelines for those who are watching the concert in-person at the stadium.

These are the rules released by the agency:

1. Please keep your distance when you are waiting for identity verification.

2. Please refrain from cheering, shouting, or standing up during the concert. Instead, give a huge round of applause and use your clappers to your hearts’ content.

3. Please take a preemptive test if you are displaying symptoms like a fever and sore throat. Please notify the staff if you feel the onset of such symptoms during the concert.

4. Please cheer for the artists at a safe location and not around the concert venue.

BTS members also talked about how excited they are to hold the first in-person concert in more than two years.

"I feel nervous and calm at the same time. As our fans cannot shout out, we’ll try our best to bring our utmost energy to our performance," said RM.

Jin said, "This reminds me of our first concert at this very stadium. I think I’ll feel as if I’m back in the times when we first started performing. As always, we’ll try our best to show quality performance to our fans."

A banner for the BTS Permission to Dance on Stage-Seoul near the Seoul Olympic Stadium (Photo courtesy of Marina Im)

A banner for the BTS Permission to Dance on Stage-Seoul near the Seoul Olympic Stadium (Photo courtesy of Marina Im)

BTS banners outside the Seoul Olympic Stadium (Photos courtesy of Marina Im)

"I’m very excited as this is our performance in two and a half years in Korea. I’m grateful that we can finally perform in person in Korea. We hope you’re ready to enjoy our performance because we have a lot to show," said Suga.

J-Hope commented, "I can’t predict how I’d feel at the concert because it’s been a long time since we stood in front of our fans in-person. But I know that I’m excited for sure. It feels as if we just debuted, and this was our first performance. We’ll show our best energy to give a mesmerizing performance."

According to Jimin, "I am glad to finally meet our fans in Korea after such a long time, and feel nervous as well. I hope to show our fans our much prepared performance. Tune-in!"

"While we wanted to invite all of our fans, we are sorry for those who could not be here with us. I’ll cherish each and every one of our songs, and try to show you our best on each performance," said V.

Jungkook added, "We’ll try our best to please our fans. While I’m slightly concerned about a concert without shouting and cheering, we promise to show you our best energy because we are meeting ARMY in such a long time. "