45,000 fans permitted to attend BTS's upcoming Seoul concerts

“Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul,″ scheduled for March, is BTS’s first in-person concert held in Seoul in two and a half years. [BIG HIT MUSIC]

An audience of 15,000 per show has been permitted for boy band BTS’s upcoming in-person concert, Yonhap reported on Monday. This is the largest audience authorized since the Covid-19 pandemic started.

According to records submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, a total of 149 in-person performances were permitted by the ministry since September 2021, as of Feb. 16. During that time period, artists such as boy bands NCT and NU’EST, trot singer Na Hoon-a and girl group Twice were permitted audiences ranging in size from 4,000 to 5,000 people.

An audience three times larger than the usual number has been permitted for BTS’s upcoming concert “Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul,” scheduled for March 10, 12 and 13.

The ministry added that measures for BTS’s concert have been relaxed because it only features the boy band and takes place in an open stadium, while concerts authorized last year were all indoors due to the cold. The ministry started allowing in-person concerts from November 2021 under “With Corona” policies.

A total of 45,000 fans are set to attend the concerts at the Olympic Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul, over the span of the three runs. The Olympic Stadium has a total of 65,599 seats, which means just 22.9 percent of the seats will be taken up with the 15,000 fans.

“Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul” is BTS’s first in-person concert held in Seoul in two and a half years. The boy band had an in-person concert in Los Angeles late last year.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]