K-pop boyband BTS’s first concert in four years launches on Netflix

K-pop boyband BTS have returned to the stage after four years with a performance at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, which has been launched on Netflix as BTS The Comeback Live: Arirang.

The performance was filmed live in the South Korean capital on Saturday and saw the group perform their fifth studio album – Arirang – the day after its release, as well as some of their biggest hits including Dynamite.

It comes after the group – RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook – went on hiatus in 2022, during which they completed mandatory military service in their home country.

In a trailer for the concert, rapper RM, real name Kim Nam-joon, says: “We promised our fans that we would be back.”

The band gathered at the historic Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul, which was lit up with purple, red and blue and filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans.

During the hour-long show, Kim Seok-jin, who performs under the name Jin, said in Korean: “Thank you so much for coming here. I had so many worries before about standing here today but seeing you all again, I’m so emotional and happy.”

Addressing BTS’s fanbase, named Army, he said: “Thank you, Army.”

Park Ji-min, known as Jimin to fans, also addressed the crowd during the concert and said: “We are finally here and seeing you again. The fact that I am speaking here… I am so moved.

“All seven of us standing on stage together makes me so happy. Thank you all so much. You have filled Gwanghwamun Square today.”

The group also thanked their fans throughout the performance for waiting for their return, and said that reuniting on stage was a “dream”.

It has been reported that the group’s leader RM injured himself prior to the performance, and he was seen limiting his movement and sitting on a chair at times throughout the show.

Free tickets for the concert were allocated to fans through a global lottery held on South Korean fan-community website Weverse, with general public reservations also available through NOL Ticket.

The concert comes ahead of the release of a new Netflix documentary on the group titled BTS: The Return, which will be released on March 21.

It will follow the lead-up to BTS’s comeback, which was first announced when the band sent handwritten letters to members of their fanbase across the world.

BTS – an acronym of Bangtan Sonyeondan, or Beyond the Scene – have had four top 10 singles and two number one albums in the UK.

They are best known in the UK for songs such as Butter, Dynamite and Life Goes On – as well as collaborations with western artists such as Charli XCX, Coldplay and Halsey.

BTS were the first K-pop act to score a Grammy nomination and have had five nods but have never won.

They are the best-selling music act in South Korean history, having sold more than 40 million albums, and the first non-English speaking group to sell out Wembley Stadium.