On March 1, 2026 (KST), it was reported that Gyeongbokgung Palace will close for one day on March 21, the date of BTS’s Gwanghwamun comeback performance.
The Korea Heritage Service announced that it held a meeting on February 25, led by Administrator Heo Min, to review safety measures related to the BTS concert. The agency stated, “As the BTS performance at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square, a symbolic space of Korea, is expected to serve as an opportunity to promote ‘K-Heritage’ worldwide, we have developed detailed, step-by-step safety management plans to ensure the safety of both visitors and national heritage sites.”
Accordingly, Gyeongbokgung Palace will be fully closed on the day of the event, and its parking lot will also be shut down. The nearby National Palace Museum of Korea will likewise be closed. Scheduled performances at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts—including the musical Anna Karenina, the Seoul Metropolitan Ballet’s Bliss & Jackie, and the play The Wasp—will also be suspended for the day.
On the day of the concert, all staff will be on emergency duty, with full access control in place. Authorities will also manage crowd flow to prevent excessive congestion toward nearby areas such as Sungnyemun Gate. In addition, an “Emergency Response Team for Palace and Royal Tomb Heritage” will be activated to conduct intensive inspections around key areas, including Yeongchumun Gate, Gwanghwamun Gate, and Geonchunmun Gate. Vehicle restrictions and CCTV monitoring will also be reinforced.
Police estimate that approximately 230,000 people may gather from the concert stage area to Deoksugung’s Daehanmun Gate, and up to 260,000 people could crowd toward Sungnyemun, where a media façade (LED projection mapping) event will also take place.
That all said, the announcement is now receiving scathing responses from netizens who simply don’t see the why. Hundreds of comments questioned whether the boy group “deserves” the special arrangements being made to accommodate their performance.
- Why are they even holding a concert there?
- Seriously, why are they going this far?
- ?
- LOL, do we really have to go this far?
- The whole ‘national boy group’ push is next level… It’s so damn old-fashioned. Guess we can’t even say K-pop isn’t government-backed anymore LOL. And they can’t even sing that well.
- Why do they have to take it that far? This is ridiculous.
- These are the same people who were accused of bulk-buying and didn’t even post a single Taegeukgi on Independence Day, and now they’re talking about ‘promoting K-Heritage.’ Yeah right.
- Ugh, this is such over-the-top nonsense, seriously.
- Why are they making such a big deal out of this?
- Why go out of the way to perform there specifically?
- Does it really have to go this far???? Why close Gyeongbokgung, and what about the people who already booked performances in advance???
- What about tourists who came to visit? This really needs more careful consideration going forward.
- Is this really necessary? It’s such a huge nuisance. Other tourists are tourists too. Where does this idea come from that everyone is here to see BTS? So over-the-top, seriously ridiculous.
- BTS isn’t the center of the world… Just go to a concert venue. This is such a nuisance.
- Seriously, why?
- What the hell is this? This makes the country look so cheap, for real LOL. Is this even a country?
- From a non-fan’s perspective, this is just excessive, excessive, ridiculously excessive.
- This is too much. There are tons of tourists who want to visit Gyeongbokgung, and this isn’t even a national event.
- This is way over the line for a private company event.
- This is the kind of thing that should warrant a parliamentary investigation, but HYBE has too many connections, so they probably won’t.
