March 20, 2026

• less than 3 min read

The only approved reason to wake up early on Saturday morning used to be to catch a cheap flight, but tomorrow, K-pop group BTS will make their long-awaited comeback with a live performance at 7am Eastern (8pm in South Korea) on Netflix. The group will take the stage in front of the Gyeongbokgung palace—a historic Korean cultural and political landmark—for their first performance in nearly four years.

Mirroring Elvis’s return to the limelight, the show marks BTS’s official return from a hiatus that started in October 2022, when all seven members had to put music on pause to complete their mandatory military service:

• Just ~22,000 free tickets were given out, but around 260,000 people (about the population of Toledo, OH) are expected to generate holiday-level spending for local businesses in Seoul.
• The Seoul show could generate roughly $177 million for the city from flights, hotels, and food.
• The government raised the terror alert in the area and plans to deploy thousands of police officers.

Taylor Swift, who? BTS will head off on their 34-city, 82-show world tour in April, and some projections have it rivaling Swift’s record-setting $2.2 billion tour. The Eras Tour’s stops in the US averaged $50–$70 million in economic impact per concert. A conservative estimate from Bloomberg projects BTS will make more than $800 million from ticket and merchandising sales alone, according to Bloomberg.—MM

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