SEOUL, March 21 (AJP) -Two hours before BTS’s comeback concert, hundreds of fans without tickets for the free reserved seats had already formed tightly packed lines, hoping they would lead as close to the stage as possible beyond the police fence.
The official seating at Gwanghwamun Plaza totaled 22,000, divided into Zone A for standing, Zone B for reserved seating and Zone C for additional seats. The rest were left to watch from around the plaza. Of those, 15,000 seats vanished almost instantly when online booking opened on Feb. 23, followed a week later by another 7,000 standing tickets.
Police estimated that as many as 260,000 people could gather from the stage area to Sungnyemun, making it the largest crowd in central Seoul since the 2002 World Cup street cheering, when 200,000 to 250,000 people filled the area.
Officers repeatedly urged pedestrians to keep moving whenever foot traffic slowed. “You cannot stand here. Please move,” they said in Korean, while foreign visitors were met with a constant refrain of “Move, move!”
Access to Gwanghwamun Plaza was restricted to 31 gates equipped with metal detectors to block hazardous items, with police special forces also deployed inside. As crowds swelled, some gates were temporarily closed. When frustrated citizens protested, officers redirected them, warning that certain entry points were already overcrowded.
Fans who failed to secure tickets adopted their own strategies to claim the best possible viewing spots. Some brought newspapers to sit on, others folding fishing stools. Even benches became contested territory. One concertgoer let out a sigh after losing a hard-won seat during a brief trip to the restroom.
In front of the Kyobo Life building, some spectators sat on the pavement and stretched out their legs, prompting police to ask them to move for safety reasons. Near the KT building, there was not even room to sit, leaving fans standing for hours.
The lines stretched endlessly, and many were not even sure where they were heading. After nearly an hour, the flow of people spilled into City Hall Plaza — a walk that would normally take 15 minutes. Hundreds, who thought they were heading toward Gwanghwamun, settled instead in front of giant outdoor screens.
Those inside the perimeter faced their own constraints. Entry required arrival by 5 p.m., three hours before the concert, and all food except a bottle of water was confiscated. Those in standing zones hesitated to leave even for the restroom, fearing they would lose their hard-earned spots. An AJP reporter inside also reported intermittent internet outages as networks became overloaded.
Still, for many, the experience was worth it.
Paula, 27, from Chile, who had attended BTS’s last concert before the members began their military service, said the decision was simple. “I could watch it on Netflix, but I wanted to hear their voices in person.”
Nearby cafés were already filled with fans waiting with BTS content playing on their screens. She and a Spanish friend she had met just 15 minutes earlier were simply hoping to catch even a partial view.
“I just want to be part of this historic moment in a historic place,” she said.
Drifting farther away from the venue with each police-guided step, Lil Reinhart, 21, from Germany, found herself pushed toward the outer edges of the crowd.
Yet she had come anyway.
“At least you can hear their real voice,” she said, her breath visible in the cold after six hours of waiting on the street.
It was her first time traveling abroad alone. She booked her flight two months earlier, paying around 800 euros — well above the usual 500 — for what she called a “once-in-a-lifetime event.”
“This kind of comeback won’t happen again,” she said. “Not with this many people, live in front of you.”
Her determination was shaped by disappointment. She had failed to secure tickets for BTS’s Germany tour, an experience she described as “strong disappointment.” This time, she was not willing to miss it entirely.
“I really wanted to see them at least once in my life.”
Even as access to the venue became effectively impossible and the crowd was steadily pushed farther away, she stayed. The plan, if there was one, was simple: wait and hope. “Somewhere,” she said, “where I can at least hear their voices.”
“I think as soon as I see them,” she said, “I’ll just be like — oh my gosh.”
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