"BTS Crowd Expected at 260,000, Actual 104,000... Controversy Over Excessive Deployment of Public Officials Likely"

Over 10,000 Public Officials Deployed, Including Police and Firefighters
Crowd Forecast Errors Lead to Overtime Pay Exceeding 440 Million Won
"Doing Our Best to Prevent Incidents Such as Terrorism Is the Government's Duty"

The crowd that gathered for BTS's concert at Gwanghwamun fell short of even half the government's prediction, raising the possibility of controversy over the excessive deployment of public officials.

The "BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG" performance by BTS is taking place around Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on the 21st. 2026.03.21 Photo by Joint Press Corps

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Seoul Metropolitan Government on March 22, around 104,000 people attended the BTS concert held that day in the Gwanghwamun area, as estimated by the organizer, HYBE. This figure is the sum of real-time user data provided by the three major mobile carriers—KT, SK Telecom, and LG Uplus—as well as estimates of users on budget phone plans and foreign visitors.

The police had projected that up to 260,000 people would attend the concert. The Seoul city government expected between 200,000 and 300,000 people would visit the Gwanghwamun to City Hall Station area to see BTS perform.

The police calculated their crowd forecast based on a density of two people per square meter. If the crowd extended from the stage at Gwanghwamun Square all the way to the vicinity of Sungnyemun, they estimated the total could reach up to 260,000 people.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which was in charge of overall event safety response, drew up its BTS comeback concert safety plan based on these institutional crowd estimates. On the day of the concert, over 10,000 safety personnel from the police, Seoul city, fire department, and the Ministry itself were deployed on site.

However, with the actual number of visitors staying at 104,000, questions are being raised about whether public officials were excessively mobilized based on inaccurate crowd predictions.

The group BTS held a free comeback performance titled 'BTS Comeback Live: Arirang' on the 21st at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.

Besides deploying more than 10,000 public officials on a Saturday holiday, concerns have also emerged regarding wasteful spending of tax funds and potential gaps in emergency response in areas outside the event zone.

Ordinary public officials (grades 9-6) are paid about 11,000 to 13,000 won per hour for overtime work. Excluding emergency mobilization, compensation is capped at four hours per day. Assuming that 10,000 staff received the full four hours of overtime, the total payout alone would amount to at least 440 million won.

It was also reported that ambulances from Incheon, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon regions, as well as Seoul, were mobilized for the BTS Gwanghwamun concert site.

Regarding this, an official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained, "As the world's most popular group was making a comeback, we anticipated a massive influx of visitors from all over the world. At the same time, with the situation in the Middle East, there were concerns about terrorism. The government's mission is to do everything possible to prevent any possible incidents."

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