BTS Returns with Full Lineup After 4 Years; Fifth Studio Album “ARIRANG” to Debut in March, With 79-Concert World Tour Expected to Generate Over 1 Trillion Won in Revenue

BTS is set to return as a full group for the first time in 3 years and 9 months. Their agency, HYBE, officially announced on January 16 that the group’s fifth studio album, “ARIRANG,” will be released on March 20, followed by a world tour starting in April.

“ARIRANG” is the first full-length studio album released since their 2022 compilation album “Proof,” which contained 14 tracks. A HYBE official stated that this album captures the artistic growth of the members during their solo activities and will touch the hearts of fans not only in Korea but around the world as well.

The world tour following the comeback will begin with a performance at the Goyang Gymnasium near Seoul on April 9, spanning a total of 79 concerts in 34 cities globally. This scale surpasses even BLACKPINK’s “Born Pink” tour (66 concerts), Stray Kids’ “Dominate” tour (54 concerts), and TWICE’s “Ready to Be” tour (51 concerts), making it the largest in K-pop history. Based on current projections, the tours are expected to draw approximately 3.74 million attendees in total. If additional shows in Japan and the Middle East, which are hinted at, are included, the overall attendance is projected to reach around 4.09 million.

The profitability of these tours is also attracting significant attention. The global music magazine Billboard estimates that total revenue from album sales, world tour ticket and merchandise sales, streaming, and licensing activities combined will exceed 1 billion dollars (approximately 1.4 trillion won). Some analyses suggest that revenue solely from tour tickets and merchandise could reach around 1.5 trillion won. This figure far exceeds the 246 million dollars generated by their pre-pandemic world tour “Love: Speak Yourself” (approximately 281.9 billion won at the time) and the 75.14 million dollars from their post-pandemic hybrid online tour “Permission to Dance on Stage” (approximately 90.9 billion won at the time).

The industry expects BTS’s comeback to drive growth across the entire K-pop industry.