SEOUL, March 23 (AJP) - BTS moved immediately into the next phase of its comeback campaign after officially returning as a full group through a livestreamed concert at Gwanghwamun on Saturday, departing for New York the following day.
The K-pop superstars are set to appear on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on March 25 and 26. RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook will join Fallon in studio for their first public interview tied to a new album release in six years. The group is also scheduled to perform two songs from “ARIRANG.”
It marks BTS’s first full-group return to the program since the July 2021 “BTS Takeover,” which drew more than 120 million views across digital platforms and included performances of “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.”
The group’s full-scale return was amplified by a free concert at Gwanghwamun, which was livestreamed through Netflix, turning the album launch into a global event.
As of Saturday, a day after the album’s release, “SWIM” and “Body to Body” were leading Spotify charts, while several other tracks also landed in the top 10.
Netflix is set to release the documentary film “BTS: THE RETURN” on Friday, chronicling the making of “ARIRANG” and offering behind-the-scenes insight into the band’s reunion after nearly four years.
The rollout will continue into April with the launch of BTS’s new world tour, beginning in Goyang, just outside Seoul. The group is scheduled to hold three shows there on April 9, 11 and 12 before moving on to Tokyo for the first overseas leg of what is expected to become a multi-continent tour.
BTS closed its Gwanghwamun performance with a message stressing that the event had been made possible through broad collective support, thanking fans, local residents and public authorities.
“This stage was not ours alone,” the group said in a letter released after the concert.
The members also acknowledged the inconvenience caused to nearby residents and businesses, expressing both gratitude and apology for the disruption.
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