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Is BTS not paid for national events? 'Messy' Busan free concert has fans saying HYBE is using them

There have been several controversies surrounding the World Expo 2030 Busan concert from bad venues to ineffective crowd control

BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA: The free Busan BTS concert is getting messy every passing day. Right when fans were happy that it would be live-streamed for free, we have three more obstacles on September 22. After changing the first venue, even the second venue has problems as it is yet to be repaired after the typhoon. Busan then shared that sponsors would be handling the expenses of the free concert whom they had approached on behalf of BTS' company without allegedly telling HYBE. Now, HYBE has released a lengthy statement addressing every concern, but one point has caught everyone's eye.

With a 100k audience at a free concert for one of the biggest music groups in the world, the execution has been pretty messy. The expenses are one of the major problems as Busan claims they cannot afford to pay them while HYBE is looking for alternative solutions. In their statement released on September 21, HYBE shares that the cost not covered by sponsors, ads, and projects will be covered by them. And in an effort to make it a success, even BTS will not be getting paid for the free 'World Expo 2030 Busan Korea Concert - BTS Yet To Come in Busan' concert.

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BTS not getting paid for Busan concert

This is not a surprise for fans as BTS has often shared that they would like to hold a free concert for their fans. However, according to HYBE's statement, it seems that BTS has not considered payment for any national event which has fans wondering if the company is using the group. They said, "BTS will also be performing without pay in efforts to realize their past hopes of partaking in a free concert with fans...BTS has participated in national events in the past, and they did not consider the costs at the forefront while doing so, always carefully considering support from the government as it is the taxpayers’ money."

Since their national and global breakthrough, BTS has been invited to several national events. This also goes for Western events like attending the United Nations meetings or the White House. While it is a point of prestige, fans are wondering why BTS needs to be the one to do it all for free and be the one to compromise every time as they are pretty much one of the most sought after artists in the world. This is evident with the way Busan roped in BTS to promote their global bid for the World Expo 2030 Busan with the free 'Yet To Come' concert.

'I feel sorry for BTS'

A Knetz wrote, "I feel sorry for BTS. When will they leave HYBE" They also left comments like, "I really hate that they use the members as shields," and "Busan city uses HYBE as shield and HYBE uses BTS as shield." One fan tweeted, "Of course I want to see the boys on stage again but everything about this busan concert is so messy I wish they’d canceled it / refused to do it They were asked to perform they shouldn’t be the ones doing all the work."

Another said, "Busan gov is playing hybe really dirty and the whole busan concert thing gets more and more messy each passing day :///." Another said, "Hybe is so focused on being apart of ‘a national event’ that they locked out foreigners out of @InterparkGlobal in order to gatekeep BTS for only Koreans. The disrespect to I-Armys is absurd. And sending us off to Haeundae for some free LivePlay? F off."

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