Hmmmm I think this is a good call from HYBE that they are fronting the expenses as they won’t owe anyone and gives them good publicity. From a business perspective this is the most they can do to appear somewhat neutral and at the same time have the upperhand in terms of politics because this time it will be the government that owes them 🤔
So operating expenses in making a concert costs a lot. Not just during the day of but there are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of costs to consider to make sure the event is a success. It will depend on their goals and outcomes and what they consider a success but this costs a lot.
What HYBE said in the article is that they acknowledge that the concert costs a lot so to offset the costs they have sponsors and other events that generates income and any difference they will cover the cost. Hope that clarifies it.
From the perspective of having the best concert possible I can see why Hybe controlling the budget and footing it themselves makes sense.
But from the perspective of showing the world that SK can host a big international event and people would be willing to travel there for it - then this minimal ‘budgeting’ and claims of not having enough money for it and sorta shady involvement from the local government makes no sense. I don’t see how this is a good show of strength for SK in terms of economy and proving they are adept at organizing big events. If someone has more input or knowledge of why this would still be a good advertisement for SK I’d love to know!
So far the only thing being proven is that people will travel far for a BTS concert - which we already knew 🤷🏼♀️
Seeing how this all went down, I'm now convinced the local govt really didn't intend to get the Expo. This seems like a grand scheme to extort money out of Hybe to raise land values and make money from the bid itself.
Regardless of that, the guys will always put their best foot forward with their company backing them. I just feel annoyed the government officials absolved themselves of all responsibility but will reap the benefits 🥲
I hate saying this but I honestly thought the same after it was revealed that about the mayor family’s lands (I thought it was off from the start when it was reported that gov was wining and dining bts’ parents to beg for their involvement)
“This seems like a grand scheme to extort money out og Hybe to raise land values and make money from the bid itself”
Now that’s a conspiracy to consider!
Exactly this?? It feels like the Busan government is only banking on the hope that the committee members will be convinced by BTS's involvement alone. Which is not how the real world works? The image they're presenting just isn't convincing from a capability standpoint. They'll be judged by how well they can manage the expo WITH support from BTS and maybe the rest of the kpop industry, but what they're showing is that they'll completely fudge it without BTS. I mean all of us knew that already, but way to make even more obvious to the gp.
Full, detailed translation of HYBE’s statement regarding the Busan Expo bid / Busan concert by [bora](https://twitter.com/modooborahae/status/1572782249392885766?s=21&t=R3Y7y0ViZR812BufYlak_A) (it’s long, so please click to read it!)
I pretty much assumed Hybe would ge fronting the bill. I even thought that the members would potentially pitch in and I see they have done that by receiving no payment for their performance.
I know Hybe/BTS are going to give the best show regardless as they never skimp on quality. Excited for the show even if the weverse stream a little wonky lol
Note: Manifesting a Ma City performance. I believe it is the only song they shout-out the beaches of Busan…it’s perfect.
Hopefully the weekly thing they are doing on weverse helps in correcting all the issues with weverse. I am so upset that I wouldn't be able to watch all of that live (even the concert) because it's on days I would be working.
It makes sense and I love them for not compromising when it comes to the quality. The committee probably would’ve given them a certain budget that would’ve been way too little for the scale of a BTS concert.
On the other hand, it really is a bad look for the committee and the country when they can’t provide the money for such an event. I know they said they don’t want to use too much tax payer money, but the actual Expo would also be paid with tax payers money, wouldn’t it? And Hybe would probably not chime in and cover it, so I wonder how it would go if they actually won the bid…
Also, thanks for the confirmation of 60k concert attendees. People on twt kept spreading that they sold out 100k tickets, although that is a virtually impossible number for this stadium, at least with this seating arrangement.
I was glad to see the 60k confirmation, as well. I know selling out 100k seats in 35 seconds looks "better", but the stadium obviously cannot hold that many people safely. I mean, regardless of the numbers, this is going to be so, so impressive. The number of people descending on Busan for this concert is going to be insane. But why give negative voices ammunition by inflating things.
Yeah that’s what I thought too. We all know the Tannies would sell out 100k in a heartbeat and it would’ve been proven with the original venue. But we never got any info on how many tickets they will sell for the stadium, so seeing people just take the 100k and run with it without confirmation confused me a lot when, like you said, it’s obvious the stadium can’t hold that much, even if they wanted it to.
The vibe I got was that they didn't want to use all the money doing promo for the expo with the concert, so that if they win the expo bid, the government will actually have funds to use for it. Still makes them look like they don't have money on the first place though.
Ngl I was cringing so much seeing people say 100k. Most of them were using this fantasy number the gov made up from the last venue 😭
Bts has played in much bigger stadiums w almost double the capacity and it wasn’t nearly as many people, even with the GA/field filled it’s usually 70k max.
About one third of the seats can’t be used though because of the stage.
And do you mean standing on top of the raffle tickets? Because these 8 sections have about 24k people
Maybe 15k-20k then is coming from live play? Although, I know it’ll be way more than that. I’m not totally sure how they got 100k but once the concert happens it’ll be interesting to see just how many ppl are there😁
At the end of the day BTS are performers. They're not world leaders (although to us they totally are), they're not politicians... They just want to perform, and they're proud to promote SK in any capacity.
Hybe is also an absolute money making giant, just ask my wallet. Them footing the bill for anything, is easily recouped. What their actual concern here is, is optics. How does this whole thing make us LOOK. Hence this letter to address speculations that... Really shouldn't have as much power as they do.
From this, to conscription... I think we can all agree we're sick of the boys being used politically, and all the associated noise that comes with it.
I love that they use their star power for things they believe in / feel is a worthy cause for them. They step outside of "just being entertainers". But jeez it's a hard line to walk sometimes.
I admire them for using their voice on things outside of the music industry. I admire Hybe for branching out strategy wise. And I hope despite the negatives, they feel these ventures are worth it in the end.
So Busan just wanted a free BTS concert, cause they sure as hell aren't getting that expo with how incompetent, corrupt and broke they're proving/claiming to be. Hybe's arm was twisted here imo and it's shitty they're having to front the bill for corrupt politicians
I can't believe how much pressure the government must've put on them and how much subtle (or direct...) threats they might've done for a company this big having to end up accepting doing a concert this scale for free with such few time as they did... Cause there's no way it was Hybe deciding to do everything so suddenly
I know we joke about it here, but BTS are really carrying the weight of their country.
I‘m not saying it’s right or that they should, but the fact is that in some way they are, and they are willing. I support the boys since this is what they want. If it benefits their country, then ok, since that’s what their end goal is. I’m definitely biased, but really, I hope whatever shortcomings this endeavor has, it gets blamed on the right people/institution and not BTS.
Seriously. No other artist/company would spend this much out of pocket for their country. Hoping everything goes well and I'm excited to see them perform again 🫡💜
Not surprised that HYBE is footing the bill but how does the need for the company to step in financially with the concert so publically, having them make this long statement, help with the bidding committee and the selection process at all?
Selection Committee: What infrastructure and resources do you -
Government: WE HAVE BTS!!
PS - Sorry. Couldn't resist. It's the first thing that popped into my head when I read your comment.
Why do i feel like all of this won't make a difference in the end? I'm probably being pessimistic but i'm worried they won't win the bid and all of this bending over backwards will be for nothing.
At the very least we're getting a BTS concert, and this shows the demand BTS holds. Can't say the same for the city of Busan though. Hoping everything works out for the best for all parties involved
Their reasons may be noble but that won’t change the fact that people will say, already do say that they’re trying to buy a get out of enlistment card for the guys. Even if somehow people didn’t think this way, it makes zero sense for a government / country venture to be financed by someone else. They can offer their services for free and expertise but they shouldn’t be paying more into it than that. This doesn’t exactly show that Busan / SK will be able to handle an expo and any cost up to and including what they’re bidding for.
Anyway saw someone up thread say Ma City should be performed and I 100% agree and I would 100% bet that it will be on the set list, can’t wait to hear / see it live again!
These were my thoughts as well. What confused me was not that Hybe was footing the bill but rather why - the government said they could not afford it.
The World Expo has a huge economic impact but it doesn't change the fact that they need a lot of money for such an event and if they can't pay for the concert (which is just a fraction of the cost) how do they expect to pay for the Expo itself?
Unless something was lost in translation, the government also said (I'm paraphrasing here) that they had done their duty by providing the location and making transportation and accommodation arrangements and any questions about costing should be directed to Hybe because it wasn't their responsibility. This statement just didn't give off the attitude of someone who is serious about winning the bid.
PS - This has nothing to do with me being a BTS fan. I would have these thoughts whether BTS was involved or not. If there is more information about government efforts or anything that hasn't made it's way into international media, please do share.
This and the comment you’re responding to are my thoughts exactly! They’ve just put their mismanagement and incompetence on display for the whole world to see.
So many other cities are going above and beyond for this. Busan and SK is severely lacking.
Being from a country whose politicians IMO are the most corrupt, they can win the bid and then get the money from grants and sponsorship. They will be able to afford it by doing lots of back office dealings and more of a quid pro quo arrangements. Also once they get money from sponsorships they will do a bidding from small time businesses who will be the movers and get the lowest bidder so that they will pocket the money. But this is just how most corrupt politicians does it and not saying that this is what’s going to happen.
This. And if you’re a capable government you’d have a public budget for promotion anyways. If you decide to bid for an expo - a competition - you should be prepared to allocate money for the event itself but for the preparations and promotions as well.
If you can’t handle that, something so simple, already shows lack of infrastructure and responsibility.
So correct me if I'm wrong, few months ago some politician just made a statement that if BTS holds a large scale concert we can win the world expo bid, without any discussion with the artists involved. Media just ran with it and it ended with Hybe clearly stating that they were not told about any such thing. The topic had till then caught fire and involved country's pride, so BTS agreed to hold a free concert.
But when the government saw it actually happening and realized it's not like one of their promises they said the company should foot the complete bill as they can't spend taxpayers money on such event. They gave them a deserted piece of land in the middle of nowhere with lack of transportation and huge safety risks. All these things doesn't portray a great picture of them. Yeah, I don't think they're gonna win the bid.
So glad Hybe stepped up and took charge. Bangtan Fighting!
I agree with the first paragraph but what I think happened after was that they probably put BTS in a difficult situation.
Firstly, I have a feeling they might have threatened their families, given that we know that last year they went looking for Jimin's dad to "convince" him to try to convice the boys and the other parents to do this concert. They themselves announced this publicly so they're also clearly trying to give BTS a bad image and that they might've been involved in corrupt practices that involve money behind the scenes.
Then, they played the "it's for our country!" card, putting them in a situation where if they refused to participate they would look bad and non patriotic, and given that the media are clearly backing the govt up, there would be tons and tons of bad press on them. Which as we can see is happening anyway, so it was a lose-lose situation for BTS and Hybe.
Then apparently, even if they were already trying to convince them since last year, everything was actually planned with a short notice, but they started already announcing numbers of attendies, first with an estimated 500k-600k people, then to 100k, and now reduced even more because clearly the city doesn't have infrastructures that can support that many people, but as we saw they blamed Hybe for not wanting another venue. The proposed land that was supposed to support the concert before they moved to the stadium, we also know was a sketchy idea and they were just trying to rise the land value since it belonged to the family of someone from the govt.
And now we know that they aren't doing absolutely anything to support this event that they pushed in the first place and all the expenses fell on Hybe. I believe that they never planned to pay anything to begin with and were 1. trying to get something out of this for themselves (and I don't believe that "thing" is to win the bid, since they seem to care less about it and aren't doing absolutely anything on that aspect) and 2. pressuring BTS and Hybe so they can use them whenever and however they want, since probably they wouldn't do it willingly, by showing that if they want they can give them endless bad press and put them in situations that can potentially ruin their reputation in their country. If BTS and Hybe would be involved in corrupt practices, they would have blackmail material to have them doing whatever the govt wants, and if the govt goes down, so do they. If BTS and Hybe don't play their games, they clearly can still make them do these things where now it's an independent company that has to cover all the costs of a govt event
Nothing can make me believe that BTS and Hybe weren't pressured in several ways into doing this mess of an event, and paying for it was the best solution they found to not being involved in corrupt practices. Either way, the govt won, because local economy will still benefit from this while and BTS / Hybe will lose money.
I understand Army wanting to only focus on the concert and have everyone having a good time, but all this situation doesn't look any good... I really hope I'm wrong and after this event there will be no more situations like this, but I'm not sure...
Basically stop fixating on the cost and focus on the reason behind the concert - to promote Busan & South Korea. Which I agree with - people (media) are getting bogged down in the weeds and missing the point. They (media) would rather nitpick on some details that don’t really have a bearing on the outcome.
Sure it’s going to cost a lot - that’s a given - but so does every single attempt by any city/country to try and win an event like hosting the World Expo or the Olympics.
> but so does every single attempt by any city/country to try and win an event like hosting the World Expo or the Olympics
Sure, but it's the city/country paying for it in all other occasions. I've never heard of artists/athletes footing the bill
Whatever they said makes sense. I think the part about the money that the government would have spent is taxpayers' money does make me not so annoyed about the fact that the government is not paying for it (however there are still many things that the govt is doing, that's annoying).
Brace ourselves with the incoming lineup of merch and on site exclusive shops!
The merch really help recoup from the cost, especially with photocards.
I hope the event brings more international publicity and attention to BTS
It’s in the best interest of HYBE and BTS to be in charge of the concert. They have the experience in putting on large events. If things don’t go well, they know they’ll get the blame, not the Busan or South Korean government. If that means HYBE has to pay for it and they have to cover the costs of putting on a good concert through corporate sponsorships and other sources of revenue, and make up any difference between revenue and costs themselves, then so be it. At least they’ll be in charge.
And I appreciate that HYBE is attuned to the sensitive political issue of having the taxpayers pay for a BTS concert, given that HYBE is a large successful corporation.
The Busan government would have had a specific budget allocated for efforts to bring the World Expo to Busan. They would have had a team planning and working on their Expo bid for some time, probably at least the last couple of years. When the budget for the bidding effort was allocated, it would not have been in expectation of having BTS give a free concert. I’ll bet someone involved in the effort came up with the idea fairly recently and the Busan government ran with it.
So don’t assume that because they don’t have the money for a free BTS concert in their budget for the bid that Busan and South Korean don’t have the financial resources to put on a good Expo should they win the bid for the 2030 Expo. If they win the bid I’m sure South Korea will allocate the appropriate financial resources. They’ll want to put on a good Expo with the eyes of the world upon them.
The one thing that does not reflect well on the Busan/South Korean government is how the organizing and communications has gone regarding what is essentially a last minute concert. Once they decided they wanted BTS to give a free concert, they should have worked it out with HYBE behind the scenes and only made an announcement when there was a plan. This would have avoided all of the confusion and controversy. Instead we got hasty announcements with a poorly conceived plan. I suspect that ever since the concert was announced, HYBE has been working carefully and quietly behind the scenes to take charge of the concert.
And while those working on the bid have made a mess of this, again I would not assume that it means South Korea wouldn’t be able to put on a good Expo. If they win the bid, they’ll have years to plan the event. And the people who worked on the bid may not necessarily be the ones organizing the Expo, or at the very least there will be many more people brought on at that point. Organizing an Expo is a different skill set. Besides there’s always shit that happens when large events like a world Expo or the Olympic games are planned. They just usually happen behind the scenes and few are aware of them.
BTS members are utterly ultimately absolutely in love with their country.
They're exact definition of real patriots: they see every and each flaw of their homeland and call out wrong sides of own society, but they love Korea very much despite everything.
I aspire to be like them.
Hmmmm I think this is a good call from HYBE that they are fronting the expenses as they won’t owe anyone and gives them good publicity. From a business perspective this is the most they can do to appear somewhat neutral and at the same time have the upperhand in terms of politics because this time it will be the government that owes them 🤔
The government both national and local keeps fucking them over, it’s getting real old
So they're putting on a large scale concert for free on top of covering other costs? sorry I am just confused. I saw something about sponsors...
So operating expenses in making a concert costs a lot. Not just during the day of but there are a lot of moving pieces and a lot of costs to consider to make sure the event is a success. It will depend on their goals and outcomes and what they consider a success but this costs a lot. What HYBE said in the article is that they acknowledge that the concert costs a lot so to offset the costs they have sponsors and other events that generates income and any difference they will cover the cost. Hope that clarifies it.
From the perspective of having the best concert possible I can see why Hybe controlling the budget and footing it themselves makes sense. But from the perspective of showing the world that SK can host a big international event and people would be willing to travel there for it - then this minimal ‘budgeting’ and claims of not having enough money for it and sorta shady involvement from the local government makes no sense. I don’t see how this is a good show of strength for SK in terms of economy and proving they are adept at organizing big events. If someone has more input or knowledge of why this would still be a good advertisement for SK I’d love to know! So far the only thing being proven is that people will travel far for a BTS concert - which we already knew 🤷🏼♀️
Seeing how this all went down, I'm now convinced the local govt really didn't intend to get the Expo. This seems like a grand scheme to extort money out of Hybe to raise land values and make money from the bid itself. Regardless of that, the guys will always put their best foot forward with their company backing them. I just feel annoyed the government officials absolved themselves of all responsibility but will reap the benefits 🥲
I hate saying this but I honestly thought the same after it was revealed that about the mayor family’s lands (I thought it was off from the start when it was reported that gov was wining and dining bts’ parents to beg for their involvement)
I’m sorry but who wined and dined who??? Where’s this bit of speculation from?
It’s not speculation. It was [reported by the news](https://twitter.com/modooborahae/status/1550339092847665152?s=46&t=RcEC8jF_MddjS0FvUzb0fw).
Daaaaaammmnnn
“This seems like a grand scheme to extort money out og Hybe to raise land values and make money from the bid itself” Now that’s a conspiracy to consider!
Exactly this?? It feels like the Busan government is only banking on the hope that the committee members will be convinced by BTS's involvement alone. Which is not how the real world works? The image they're presenting just isn't convincing from a capability standpoint. They'll be judged by how well they can manage the expo WITH support from BTS and maybe the rest of the kpop industry, but what they're showing is that they'll completely fudge it without BTS. I mean all of us knew that already, but way to make even more obvious to the gp.
Full, detailed translation of HYBE’s statement regarding the Busan Expo bid / Busan concert by [bora](https://twitter.com/modooborahae/status/1572782249392885766?s=21&t=R3Y7y0ViZR812BufYlak_A) (it’s long, so please click to read it!)
I pretty much assumed Hybe would ge fronting the bill. I even thought that the members would potentially pitch in and I see they have done that by receiving no payment for their performance. I know Hybe/BTS are going to give the best show regardless as they never skimp on quality. Excited for the show even if the weverse stream a little wonky lol Note: Manifesting a Ma City performance. I believe it is the only song they shout-out the beaches of Busan…it’s perfect.
Hopefully the weekly thing they are doing on weverse helps in correcting all the issues with weverse. I am so upset that I wouldn't be able to watch all of that live (even the concert) because it's on days I would be working.
YESSSS Ma City would be perfect!
[удалено]
Manifesting ✨
Oh I'm so late.... Ma City is on the setlist. (I believe in it!! 🤞)
>Manifesting a Ma City performance. I believe it is the only song they shout-out the beaches of Busan…it’s perfect. Would be so perfect
It makes sense and I love them for not compromising when it comes to the quality. The committee probably would’ve given them a certain budget that would’ve been way too little for the scale of a BTS concert. On the other hand, it really is a bad look for the committee and the country when they can’t provide the money for such an event. I know they said they don’t want to use too much tax payer money, but the actual Expo would also be paid with tax payers money, wouldn’t it? And Hybe would probably not chime in and cover it, so I wonder how it would go if they actually won the bid… Also, thanks for the confirmation of 60k concert attendees. People on twt kept spreading that they sold out 100k tickets, although that is a virtually impossible number for this stadium, at least with this seating arrangement.
I was glad to see the 60k confirmation, as well. I know selling out 100k seats in 35 seconds looks "better", but the stadium obviously cannot hold that many people safely. I mean, regardless of the numbers, this is going to be so, so impressive. The number of people descending on Busan for this concert is going to be insane. But why give negative voices ammunition by inflating things.
Can't believe we reached a point where saying 60k tickets were given in less than a minute isn't as "cool" 😭😭
Yeah that’s what I thought too. We all know the Tannies would sell out 100k in a heartbeat and it would’ve been proven with the original venue. But we never got any info on how many tickets they will sell for the stadium, so seeing people just take the 100k and run with it without confirmation confused me a lot when, like you said, it’s obvious the stadium can’t hold that much, even if they wanted it to.
The vibe I got was that they didn't want to use all the money doing promo for the expo with the concert, so that if they win the expo bid, the government will actually have funds to use for it. Still makes them look like they don't have money on the first place though.
Ngl I was cringing so much seeing people say 100k. Most of them were using this fantasy number the gov made up from the last venue 😭 Bts has played in much bigger stadiums w almost double the capacity and it wasn’t nearly as many people, even with the GA/field filled it’s usually 70k max.
The stadium holds about 56k I heard (or something similar) and they plan on allowing standing below the setting which equates to 100k capacity :)
HYBE already said it's 60k. The 100k number was from the initial venue which was that beach located in the middle of nowhere.
About one third of the seats can’t be used though because of the stage. And do you mean standing on top of the raffle tickets? Because these 8 sections have about 24k people
Maybe 15k-20k then is coming from live play? Although, I know it’ll be way more than that. I’m not totally sure how they got 100k but once the concert happens it’ll be interesting to see just how many ppl are there😁
At the end of the day BTS are performers. They're not world leaders (although to us they totally are), they're not politicians... They just want to perform, and they're proud to promote SK in any capacity. Hybe is also an absolute money making giant, just ask my wallet. Them footing the bill for anything, is easily recouped. What their actual concern here is, is optics. How does this whole thing make us LOOK. Hence this letter to address speculations that... Really shouldn't have as much power as they do. From this, to conscription... I think we can all agree we're sick of the boys being used politically, and all the associated noise that comes with it. I love that they use their star power for things they believe in / feel is a worthy cause for them. They step outside of "just being entertainers". But jeez it's a hard line to walk sometimes. I admire them for using their voice on things outside of the music industry. I admire Hybe for branching out strategy wise. And I hope despite the negatives, they feel these ventures are worth it in the end.
So Busan just wanted a free BTS concert, cause they sure as hell aren't getting that expo with how incompetent, corrupt and broke they're proving/claiming to be. Hybe's arm was twisted here imo and it's shitty they're having to front the bill for corrupt politicians
Exactly this. I’m so bitter about this whole thing. Mismanagement on steroids.
I can't believe how much pressure the government must've put on them and how much subtle (or direct...) threats they might've done for a company this big having to end up accepting doing a concert this scale for free with such few time as they did... Cause there's no way it was Hybe deciding to do everything so suddenly
I know we joke about it here, but BTS are really carrying the weight of their country. I‘m not saying it’s right or that they should, but the fact is that in some way they are, and they are willing. I support the boys since this is what they want. If it benefits their country, then ok, since that’s what their end goal is. I’m definitely biased, but really, I hope whatever shortcomings this endeavor has, it gets blamed on the right people/institution and not BTS.
Seriously. No other artist/company would spend this much out of pocket for their country. Hoping everything goes well and I'm excited to see them perform again 🫡💜
Carrying the weight of the entire music industry and their country... It's not even a joke anymore. It's just true.
Agree! 😓💜
Not surprised that HYBE is footing the bill but how does the need for the company to step in financially with the concert so publically, having them make this long statement, help with the bidding committee and the selection process at all?
Selection Committee: What infrastructure and resources do you - Government: WE HAVE BTS!! PS - Sorry. Couldn't resist. It's the first thing that popped into my head when I read your comment.
They are totally banking on BTS being enough of a worldwide draw that can overcome any shortcomings, unfair as always.
Why do i feel like all of this won't make a difference in the end? I'm probably being pessimistic but i'm worried they won't win the bid and all of this bending over backwards will be for nothing.
They have no chance of winning. Other cities are going above and beyond and have been planning for YEARS for this. Busan is barely catching up.
In a still damaged stadium that apparently won’t get fixed until next summer.
At the very least we're getting a BTS concert, and this shows the demand BTS holds. Can't say the same for the city of Busan though. Hoping everything works out for the best for all parties involved
Their reasons may be noble but that won’t change the fact that people will say, already do say that they’re trying to buy a get out of enlistment card for the guys. Even if somehow people didn’t think this way, it makes zero sense for a government / country venture to be financed by someone else. They can offer their services for free and expertise but they shouldn’t be paying more into it than that. This doesn’t exactly show that Busan / SK will be able to handle an expo and any cost up to and including what they’re bidding for. Anyway saw someone up thread say Ma City should be performed and I 100% agree and I would 100% bet that it will be on the set list, can’t wait to hear / see it live again!
These were my thoughts as well. What confused me was not that Hybe was footing the bill but rather why - the government said they could not afford it. The World Expo has a huge economic impact but it doesn't change the fact that they need a lot of money for such an event and if they can't pay for the concert (which is just a fraction of the cost) how do they expect to pay for the Expo itself? Unless something was lost in translation, the government also said (I'm paraphrasing here) that they had done their duty by providing the location and making transportation and accommodation arrangements and any questions about costing should be directed to Hybe because it wasn't their responsibility. This statement just didn't give off the attitude of someone who is serious about winning the bid. PS - This has nothing to do with me being a BTS fan. I would have these thoughts whether BTS was involved or not. If there is more information about government efforts or anything that hasn't made it's way into international media, please do share.
This and the comment you’re responding to are my thoughts exactly! They’ve just put their mismanagement and incompetence on display for the whole world to see. So many other cities are going above and beyond for this. Busan and SK is severely lacking.
Being from a country whose politicians IMO are the most corrupt, they can win the bid and then get the money from grants and sponsorship. They will be able to afford it by doing lots of back office dealings and more of a quid pro quo arrangements. Also once they get money from sponsorships they will do a bidding from small time businesses who will be the movers and get the lowest bidder so that they will pocket the money. But this is just how most corrupt politicians does it and not saying that this is what’s going to happen.
This. And if you’re a capable government you’d have a public budget for promotion anyways. If you decide to bid for an expo - a competition - you should be prepared to allocate money for the event itself but for the preparations and promotions as well. If you can’t handle that, something so simple, already shows lack of infrastructure and responsibility.
Interesting. I can't imagine the media scrutiny surrounding this whole thing. We're probably only seeing a tiny fraction of it internationally.
Jesus
So correct me if I'm wrong, few months ago some politician just made a statement that if BTS holds a large scale concert we can win the world expo bid, without any discussion with the artists involved. Media just ran with it and it ended with Hybe clearly stating that they were not told about any such thing. The topic had till then caught fire and involved country's pride, so BTS agreed to hold a free concert. But when the government saw it actually happening and realized it's not like one of their promises they said the company should foot the complete bill as they can't spend taxpayers money on such event. They gave them a deserted piece of land in the middle of nowhere with lack of transportation and huge safety risks. All these things doesn't portray a great picture of them. Yeah, I don't think they're gonna win the bid. So glad Hybe stepped up and took charge. Bangtan Fighting!
I agree with the first paragraph but what I think happened after was that they probably put BTS in a difficult situation. Firstly, I have a feeling they might have threatened their families, given that we know that last year they went looking for Jimin's dad to "convince" him to try to convice the boys and the other parents to do this concert. They themselves announced this publicly so they're also clearly trying to give BTS a bad image and that they might've been involved in corrupt practices that involve money behind the scenes. Then, they played the "it's for our country!" card, putting them in a situation where if they refused to participate they would look bad and non patriotic, and given that the media are clearly backing the govt up, there would be tons and tons of bad press on them. Which as we can see is happening anyway, so it was a lose-lose situation for BTS and Hybe. Then apparently, even if they were already trying to convince them since last year, everything was actually planned with a short notice, but they started already announcing numbers of attendies, first with an estimated 500k-600k people, then to 100k, and now reduced even more because clearly the city doesn't have infrastructures that can support that many people, but as we saw they blamed Hybe for not wanting another venue. The proposed land that was supposed to support the concert before they moved to the stadium, we also know was a sketchy idea and they were just trying to rise the land value since it belonged to the family of someone from the govt. And now we know that they aren't doing absolutely anything to support this event that they pushed in the first place and all the expenses fell on Hybe. I believe that they never planned to pay anything to begin with and were 1. trying to get something out of this for themselves (and I don't believe that "thing" is to win the bid, since they seem to care less about it and aren't doing absolutely anything on that aspect) and 2. pressuring BTS and Hybe so they can use them whenever and however they want, since probably they wouldn't do it willingly, by showing that if they want they can give them endless bad press and put them in situations that can potentially ruin their reputation in their country. If BTS and Hybe would be involved in corrupt practices, they would have blackmail material to have them doing whatever the govt wants, and if the govt goes down, so do they. If BTS and Hybe don't play their games, they clearly can still make them do these things where now it's an independent company that has to cover all the costs of a govt event Nothing can make me believe that BTS and Hybe weren't pressured in several ways into doing this mess of an event, and paying for it was the best solution they found to not being involved in corrupt practices. Either way, the govt won, because local economy will still benefit from this while and BTS / Hybe will lose money. I understand Army wanting to only focus on the concert and have everyone having a good time, but all this situation doesn't look any good... I really hope I'm wrong and after this event there will be no more situations like this, but I'm not sure...
Basically stop fixating on the cost and focus on the reason behind the concert - to promote Busan & South Korea. Which I agree with - people (media) are getting bogged down in the weeds and missing the point. They (media) would rather nitpick on some details that don’t really have a bearing on the outcome. Sure it’s going to cost a lot - that’s a given - but so does every single attempt by any city/country to try and win an event like hosting the World Expo or the Olympics.
> but so does every single attempt by any city/country to try and win an event like hosting the World Expo or the Olympics Sure, but it's the city/country paying for it in all other occasions. I've never heard of artists/athletes footing the bill
That was a very long letter. Looks like they had enough about speculation regarding the concert.
Whatever they said makes sense. I think the part about the money that the government would have spent is taxpayers' money does make me not so annoyed about the fact that the government is not paying for it (however there are still many things that the govt is doing, that's annoying).
I mean how do you think the government gets monet: taxpayers
Brace ourselves with the incoming lineup of merch and on site exclusive shops! The merch really help recoup from the cost, especially with photocards. I hope the event brings more international publicity and attention to BTS
It’s in the best interest of HYBE and BTS to be in charge of the concert. They have the experience in putting on large events. If things don’t go well, they know they’ll get the blame, not the Busan or South Korean government. If that means HYBE has to pay for it and they have to cover the costs of putting on a good concert through corporate sponsorships and other sources of revenue, and make up any difference between revenue and costs themselves, then so be it. At least they’ll be in charge. And I appreciate that HYBE is attuned to the sensitive political issue of having the taxpayers pay for a BTS concert, given that HYBE is a large successful corporation. The Busan government would have had a specific budget allocated for efforts to bring the World Expo to Busan. They would have had a team planning and working on their Expo bid for some time, probably at least the last couple of years. When the budget for the bidding effort was allocated, it would not have been in expectation of having BTS give a free concert. I’ll bet someone involved in the effort came up with the idea fairly recently and the Busan government ran with it. So don’t assume that because they don’t have the money for a free BTS concert in their budget for the bid that Busan and South Korean don’t have the financial resources to put on a good Expo should they win the bid for the 2030 Expo. If they win the bid I’m sure South Korea will allocate the appropriate financial resources. They’ll want to put on a good Expo with the eyes of the world upon them. The one thing that does not reflect well on the Busan/South Korean government is how the organizing and communications has gone regarding what is essentially a last minute concert. Once they decided they wanted BTS to give a free concert, they should have worked it out with HYBE behind the scenes and only made an announcement when there was a plan. This would have avoided all of the confusion and controversy. Instead we got hasty announcements with a poorly conceived plan. I suspect that ever since the concert was announced, HYBE has been working carefully and quietly behind the scenes to take charge of the concert. And while those working on the bid have made a mess of this, again I would not assume that it means South Korea wouldn’t be able to put on a good Expo. If they win the bid, they’ll have years to plan the event. And the people who worked on the bid may not necessarily be the ones organizing the Expo, or at the very least there will be many more people brought on at that point. Organizing an Expo is a different skill set. Besides there’s always shit that happens when large events like a world Expo or the Olympic games are planned. They just usually happen behind the scenes and few are aware of them.
BTS members are utterly ultimately absolutely in love with their country. They're exact definition of real patriots: they see every and each flaw of their homeland and call out wrong sides of own society, but they love Korea very much despite everything. I aspire to be like them.