BTS to kick off massive world tour in South Korea

K-pop supergroup BTS launches its global concert tour on Thursday in the South Korean city of Goyang, after the group's comeback single topped rankings worldwide.

BTS's World Tour ARIRANG officially starts with three nights in Goyang, on April 9, 11, and 12, and will take in 34 cities across the world in a new record for the most tour dates by a K-pop artist.

The opening concerts in Goyang sold out in pre-sale for all three nights, and tickets to concerts in South Korea, North America, and Europe were sold out within a few hours of the pre-sale and general sale, according to BTS's management agency.

GCC countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, will bring the concert to their screens, with VOX Cinemas carrying out live viewing of the shows in Goyang on April 11 and Japan on April 18. 

The concerts mark BTS’s return to the global stage and first tour as a group since their Permission to Dance On Stage tour from 2021-2022.

The group went on hiatus in 2022, and all seven members completed mandatory South Korean military service by mid-2025, before getting together to record their fifth studio album ARIRANG.

The album, released in March, topped the Billboard 200 chart for two weeks, a first for a K-pop group or artist. Lead single Swim made its debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, before falling to No. 2 in its second week.

Analysts said the concert tour, which will feature a 360-degree in-the-round stage design, is expected to bring in blockbuster revenues, with some estimates pointing to total tour earnings of as much as 2.7 trillion won ($1.81 billion), not including fans' spending outside the concerts when visiting cities for the show.