BTS’ ‘World Expo 2030 Busan Korea’ concert garners 49 million views on Weverse

K-pop idol group BTS successfully held their World Expo 2030 Busan Korea Concert “BTS in Busan” on Oct. 15 at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium.

The concert was held in person, in person live broadcast, online live stream and TV broadcast and was viewed from 229 countries and regions.

BTS are the ambassadors of the World Expo 2030 Busan and through the concert, they introduced Busan and Korean culture to a worldwide audience in an effort to boost interests in Busan’s bid for the World Expo 2030.

Big Hit Music, BTS’ agency, revealed the numbers for the Busan concert.

According to the agency, the in person concert at Busan Asiad Main Stadium was attended by about 50,000 people.

The estimated number of viewers at the in-person live broadcast World Expo 2030 Busan Korea Concert “BTS in Busan-LIVE PLAY” held at Busan Port reached 10,000.

There were about 2,000 people who watched the Live Play in Haeundae but the area was further crowded as it was open to the public.

The online livestream through the Weverse platform garnered about 49 million views alone. TV broadcast on Korea’s JTBC channel received an exceptionally high rating of 3.3 percent.

At the concert, BTS performed 19 songs. They opened the show with “MIC DROP.” They also performed “Run BTS.”

For the unit performances, Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook performed “00:00 (Zero O'Clock)” and “Butterfly” while RM, SUGA and J-Hope sang “UGH!” and “BTS Cypher PT.3: KILLER.”

The septet continued the show with hit songs such as “Dynamite,” “Butter,” “Burning Up (FIRE),” “IDOL,” and “Spring Day.”

The concert was filled with symbolic elements that represent Busan and Korean culture. For instance, BTS performed “Ma City” showcasing graphic images of Busan’s beautiful landmarks and scenery.

The “IDOL” stage caught the eyes of the global audience with Korean traditional visuals and performances such as "Bukcheong saja noreum" (a Korean traditional game that involves dancing with lion masks).

“We hope our concert tonight will help promote Busan and support the city’s bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan,” said BTS.

They added, “As the title ‘BTS in BUSAN’ suggests, we have no doubt that tonight was the best moment for everyone here and the seven of us. With our hopes to spend another brightest moment together again, we present to you our last song of the night.”

BTS closed the show with “Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment),” suggesting a brighter future for all.

BTS THE CITY in BUSAN

BTS THE CITY in BUSAN (hereinafter ‘THE CITY’), a project designed in parallel with ‘BTS in BUSAN,’ provided rich experience to many citizens of Busan and visitors through its various activations, further highlighting Busan’s unique charms.

The “2022 BTS EXHIBITION: Proof’ in both Seoul (from Sept. 28) and Busan (From Oct. 5), featuring interactive content, garnered approximately 20,000 visitors by October 15 and more than two-thirds of them at the Busan site were foreigners.

The pop-up stores “BTS in BUSAN-Official Merchandise Store” in Seoul and Busan attracted 16,000 visitors, of which 10,000 visited the Busan site.

On the other hand, the “BTS THE CITY in BUSAN-THEMED PACKAGE” also attracted a great number of people, in which two-thirds of the total reservations were made by foreigners.

The “BTS THE CITY in BUSAN-Pre-Gathering Event” was packed with hundreds of people celebrating and enjoying the excitement before the concert.

With people wishing to continue the enthusiasm of the concert through various BTS-themed multimedia shows, nearly 4,000 tickets for “BTS THE CITY in BUSAN - AFTER PARTY” were sold out.

On Twitter, more than 9.3 million keyword hashtag counts related to “BTS in BUSAN” and “THE CITY” were recorded, and keywords related to “World Expo 2030 Busan” recorded more than 200,000 counts.

Proving the festive atmosphere throughout Busan and the excitement towards World Expo 2030 Busan, the number of references was 45 times bigger than that of last year.

In the hope of hosting the World Expo 2030 in Busan, the city celebrated “BTS in BUSAN” on a grand scale with a drone show at Gwangalli Beach.

Major landmarks such as the Busan Metropolitan City Hall and Gwangan Bridge will continue to be lit up in purple, reenacting “Borahae Busan” until Oct. 17.

The host country of World Expo 2030 will be elected by BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) member states.

If Busan succeeds in its bid, the World Expo 2030 Busan, Korea will be held in Busan North Port Area from May 1 to Oct. 31, 2030 under the theme, “Transforming Our World, Navigating toward a Better Future.”