Seoul City Filled with 'Purple Foreigners'... Buzzing Ahead of BTS 10th Anniversary

Seoul City to Host HYBE 2023 BTS Festa
Expected Tens of Thousands of Fans Visiting Korea

The group BTS is celebrating their 10th anniversary with the Festa (2023 BTS FESTA), and it is expected that the number of foreign tourists visiting Seoul this summer will increase.

[Photo by Seoul City YouTube Channel]

The Festa, prepared through collaboration between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and HYBE, will take place from June 12 to 25 across various locations in Seoul, including Yeouido.

During the event period, Seoul will light up major landmarks such as Sebitseom, Namsan Seoul Tower, City Hall, DDP, and World Cup Bridge in BTS's signature purple color for the fans visiting the city.

A 'Stamp Tour Event' will also be held, where visitors who visit major BTS-related sites in Seoul, such as Gyeongbokgung Palace, Hangang Park, and the BTS Forest, can upload verification photos for a chance to win prizes through a lottery.

In addition, various attractions and activities such as photo zones and experience booths will be available.

Besides the official events organized by HYBE, domestic and international 'ARMY' (BTS fandom) are voluntarily preparing 10th anniversary commemorative events, and it is expected that many foreign tourists will visit Korea.

Accommodation facilities located in areas like Myeongdong, Seoul, are receiving a flood of inquiries for June stays, and it is anticipated that the full occupancy situation seen during last year's Seoul concert will occur again in most accommodations in the city.

Various tour programs targeting foreign fans visiting Korea are also emerging.

This program, called the 'BTS Tour,' selects several places such as restaurants where BTS members have dined and locations where music videos were filmed, and fans visit these spots, gaining popularity.

However, concerns have been raised about an increase in scams targeting foreigners.

These scams involve posting online about selling concert tickets or K-pop star-related merchandise, taking money, and then disappearing. Especially, many crimes exploit the fact that foreigners living abroad find it difficult to receive compensation even if they are scammed in transactions with Koreans.

In November last year, a reporting account named 'Korean Scammer' was created on social media. Overseas K-pop fans posted the IDs of those who scammed them, and currently, thousands of posts are uploaded on this account.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 27th of last month that the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea in the first quarter of this year reached 1.71 million. The number of foreign visitors to Korea has steadily increased since the second quarter of last year, showing the largest increase since the COVID-19 pandemic last month.

This trend is analyzed to have been influenced by the global popularity of BTS and other K-pop artists.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.