MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / K-POP NEWS

Is HYBE paying 7 billion won for a 'free' BTS 'Yet To Come' concert? Fans slam Busan for being greedy

Fans claim that Busan is exploiting BTS and HYBE by aiming to make huge profits without spending any money on the 'Yet To Come in Busan' concert

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: As fans near the date of BTS' first ever free concert, 'Yet To Come in Busan', more and more pieces of a complicated political puzzle unravel. From the time it was announced there had been a lot of buzz around BTS, the biggest boy group in the world hosting a free concert for hundreds of thousands of fans. The members too had shared their intention of hosting at least one free show in their lives and it seemed like this year might be the perfect opportunity for them to do so. South Korea reported that they were going to place their bid for the 2030 World Expo to be held in Busan.

Given BTS' worldwide popularity and contribution to the nation, the boy group was announced as honorary ambassadors of the 2030 Busan Expo and was asked to extend their contribution to the bid. However, now, it seems like BTS and their label, HYBE's kindness is being taken for granted by the Busan government as it was reported that neither the city government nor any sponsor is willing to fund 7 billion won ($5 million) to host the concert. This also means that HYBE will have to find a way to fund a concert that would not yield any profit to the label but only will only monetarily benefit the city and the country. 

READ MORE

What to expect from BTS' FREE concert? Boy band's Yet To Come in Busan show slated for October

Busan hotels hike prices up NINE times for BTS Yet To Come free concert day, fans say 'exploitation'

HYBE looks for sponsors to fund the free Busan concert

From the offset, there had been many issues that were pointed out about the concert. From the idea that the show was held in Busan where hotels had spiked prices of rooms nine times on the days of the BTS concert to gain more profit to the allegation that the Busan Mayor has reserved 3500 seats of the 110k available seats for his personal guests. Not only that but the city was slammed for hosting the show at a venue that was unsafe for fans.

Now a new issue has arisen where reports suggest that the BTS show, 'Yet To Come in Busan' slated to be held on October 15 was not planned or discussed beforehand. Korean media reported that the label nor the Busan government had made a conclusion about who was paying for the 'free to watch' concert that hundreds of thousands of fans are flocking to attend. According to the Busan World Expo bidding committee, the concert will cost about 7 billion won, but the committee does not have the funding for it which could result in delaying the show or an inevitable cancelation of the free concert.

Since the 'Yet To Come in Busan' concert is being held with the sole purpose of flocking tourism to Busan, South Korea ahead of the 2030 World Expo, fans believe that the city should generate the funds for the show as they will be reaping the profits from it. It has been reported that HYBE is trying to generate funds from sponsors however no development has been made in terms of sponsorship for BTS' free concert so far. It is alleged that in the event of no sponsorship, HYBE will eventually have to spend the 7 billion won themselves to host the show.

'This is embarrassing for Busan'

Now fans have started mocking the city for not being able to host a petty concert while they audaciously place their bids for an even more expensive World Expo. One fan said, "The world is watching and it’s obvious that they are not ready. this is embarrassing." Another fan said, "How do you have the courage to host an expo when you cant even organize it well and spend money for it?? Embarrassing." One more fan said, "They want this expo to happen on their city but doesn’t want to share the bill. These f*****g politicians are leeches."

One fan said, "The entire cause was to prove they can host a world expo... but they can't even fund their own show... and they were expecting shit to turn out well at the expense of bts, their company, the people that work for them, and the artists who work hard on their craft." Another fan mocked, "They wanna hold the world expo but can’t even get their s**t together for a concert." One more fan said, "Damn that's crazy. they're just riding on the boys and hybe. government not even lifting a finger or spending a dime. that's insane." Another fam said, "SO Busan wants to show that they can host the Expo but can’t even afford to do promo for the bid.."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.