Seoul (AFP)
K-pop megastars, BTS, announced Friday the cancellation of four giant concerts scheduled in Seoul in April due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
More than 2,000 cases of the disease have been confirmed in South Korea, which is the country most affected by the virus outside of China where it appeared in December. A total of 13 people died from the disease in South Korea.
"We regret to announce" the cancellation of the concerts in Seoul, said in a statement Big Hit Entertainment, the agency dealing with the flagship group of South Korean pop.
The four concerts were scheduled between April 11 and 19 in the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which hosted the 1988 Games. They should have brought together "more than 200,000" groupies.
Big Hit Entertainment explained that this cancellation was "inevitable" because it is "impossible at this stage to predict the scale of the epidemic", which generates a lot of logistical uncertainty for the organization of the concerts, but also for the spectators .
The boy band held a press conference on Monday to promote his new album, "Map of the Soul: 7".
It is the South Korean album that has sold the most in pre-orders, since four million copies were purchased before its release in stores last week.
BTS (abbreviation of Bangtan Sonyeondan, which means "Boy Scouts resistant to bullets") is a worldwide musical phenomenon.
It is the first K-pop group to have reached the peak of sales in the United States and in Great Britain and chained sold out concerts in Los Angeles, Chicago or London, or even ignited in June a Stade de France completely full.
The group’s close relationships with its fans, which it floods with selfies on social media, videos and tweets - in Korean and English - have helped create a global movement of millions of fans, including singers. call their "army".
© 2020 AFP