Skyscrapers, bridges and other landmarks in South Korea’s capital will be lit up in purple on Monday as the country begins celebrating the 10th anniversary of K-pop band BTS, whose global popularity is a source of national pride.
The lights will provide the backdrop for various social media-driven events marking the 2013 debut of the seven-member group.
The group is now on a temporary hiatus as its singers take turns releasing solo material while the others begin their mandatory military duties.
Numerous Seoul buildings, including City Hall, the 123-story Lotte World Tower, several Han River bridges, and the futuristic DDP, a Zaha Hadid-designed aluminium and concrete dome often used for visual art, will be bathed in purple, a colour associated with BTS, according to city officials and the group’s management company, Hybe.
Messages congratulating BTS were displayed on digital screens in buildings across Seoul, while postal authorities issued stamps marking the group’s anniversary, which will be available at post offices from Tuesday.
Seoul officials hope that the celebrations, which will continue for about two weeks, will boost tourism.
The city has designated more than a dozen sites associated with BTS, including places where the group held major performances or shot some of their videos.
Fireworks are planned at a park near the Han River on Saturday, hours after one of the BTS singers, RM, holds a live talk with fans that will be broadcast online.
Quickly garnering huge followings in Asia following their debut, BTS’s popularity expanded across the globe with their 2020 megahit Dynamite, the band’s first all-English song that made it the first K-pop act to top Billboard’s Hot 100.
BTS have since performed in sold-out arenas around the world and were invited to speak at United Nations’ meetings, supported by a legion of global followers who call themselves the “Army”.
BTS’s activities as a full group are currently on hold as the artists begin to serve in the military.
Two BTS singers, Jin and J-Hope, have already started their compulsory 18-month service and other members will follow in coming months, which likely means the group will reconvene in about 2025.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in uniform for 18-21 months under a system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.
