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| ▲Thus photo shows BTS appointed as the Busan Expo Ambassador (Yonhap). |
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▲This photo shows the former Busan factory of Korea Glass (Photo by photo Son Hyung-ju reporter)
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▲This photo shows BTS and Busan city officials shouting "For Busan Expo 2030!" (Yonhap)
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| ▲This photo, provided by Bighit Music, shows the poster of the BTS concert which will be held in Busan in October (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, August 29 (Yonhap) -- The Busan Metropolitan Government and related organizations are on high alert as the group BTS will be holding its first-ever 100,000-person concert at the site of the former Busan factory of Korea Glass in Gijang-gun, Busan, in October.
A traffic jam will be inevitable for 100,000 people to make their way to the concert hall, and moreover, safety, COVID-19 issues, and accommodation are other issues to be solved.
Nonetheless, it is also burdensome to hold an online streaming concert with 10,000 people at the outdoor parking lot of the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal.
The Busan Metropolitan government announced on Sunday that they had their first working level meeting on August 24, with the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency and Busan Fire Safety Headquarters, in order to check everything related to the concert.
The traffic jam was the biggest concern. Busan City decided to expand the schedule of subways and city buses and also put in shuttle buses.
They are also planning to completely block the traffic of vehicles on narrow roads from the Donghae Nambu Line, Ilgwang station to the venue and allow visitors to walk for about 15 minutes.
The concert will start at 6 pm,but visitors will be allowed to enter from 9 am on the same day to avoid crowding at once, and it is also planned to disperse the crowd leaving after the concert.
For BTS fans, "Army" coming from other regions or foreign countries, Busan City is looking for ways to increase the number of flights between Seoul Gimpo Airport and Busan Gimhae Airport and KTX trains to Busan.
Ahead of the concert, the prices of accommodation facilities around the venue have already fluctuated, and some facilities have unilaterally canceled reservations that have already been made and then demanded more money. Busan city is thinking of a way to reinforce the supervision and take measures.
According to Yanolja,an application to reserve accommodation facilities, facilities around Kijang and Ilgwang stations are all sold out till October 14, the day before the concert.
At the same time, the city plans to strengthen measures inside and outside the concert venue so that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, whose growth has slowed, does not re-spread due to the BTS concert in Busan.
In relation to this, the city plans to hold a coordination meeting in which all relevant organizations participate before and after Chuseok, to check the preparation status, and hold a final inspection meeting presided over by Mayor Park Hyung-joon right before the concert.
The city is expecting a powerful effect from the concert because BTS, the ambassador for the 2030 Busan World Expo (Expo), will hold a mega concert in Busan for free to host the expo and also provide free online live streaming through the fan community Weverse and the metaverse platform ZEPETO.
It is believed that this could be an inflection point in reversing the atmosphere that seems to have fallen a bit behind Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, a competitor for the 2030 Expo.
In order to make this an inflection point, the 2030 Busan Expo will be promoted in the middle of the concert, which will hold the attention of the world.
Moreover, Busan City decided to invite key figures from 170 Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) member countries that decide the venue of the Expo to the concert and introduce the preparations of the Busan Expo.
A city official said, "It can be said that all organizations in Busan are trying their best for a successful concert being hosted by BTS Busan," and added, "We will try our best to minimize traffic problems."
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Dowon Kim.)
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