The burglary is over..The two lost years of K-pop that BTS will regain

*This content was translated by AI.

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On March 20, 2026, K-pop's heart finally starts beating at full speed again.

As all members of the idol group BTS (BTS, RM Jin Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V Jungkook) returned to the full after serving in the military, the global K-pop market, which has been stagnant for the past two years, is foreshadowing a huge change in perception. Attempts to flag empty houses in the hope of 'Post BTS' are now over. It's finally time to get back the two years the real owner lost.

During BTS's military hiatus, which began with the enlistment of Jin, the eldest brother, in December 2022, the K-pop industry achieved quantitative growth, but failed to quench its qualitative thirst. Several junior groups were listed on the Billboard charts, lightly achieved the album's first million-seller (first week of release), and struggled to scale up their overseas tours.

However, it was not enough to erase the huge shadow of BTS, which reigned as the top artist in the global pop market.

Not only foreign media but also music markets in various countries were desperate to find "Next BTS," but in the end, it only proved that "BTS is not a success of the genre of K-pop, but a unique genre of BTS itself." Although numerous agencies have dreamed of a big hit for the next generation of boy groups that will succeed BTS by pouring enormous capital and planning power, the epic weight of BTS, which represents the voices of the times and leads the narrative of global pop culture, could never be replicated by the system alone.

The impossibility of BTS was the first to react to the cold capital markets. In fact, Hive shares rebounded sharply as expectations for BTS's full-fledged return to the surface. In addition, when specific schedules such as the release of new albums and large-scale world tours were officially announced, Hive stocks fluctuated even hotter. The news of the resumption of a single artist's activities showed an unprecedented impact on a company's market capitalization.

It is the operation of the entire world tour that raises even more expectations. Starting with the main stadium of Goyang Stadium on April 9, BTS will start a large-scale world tour of 82 times in 34 cities around the world. All of the 41st North American and European performances, including the three Goyang performances where the reservation window was held, were sold out early.

In particular, London, England, has achieved another new milestone. BTS achieved the highest audience share ever for a single performance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which will be held on July 6-7. They will meet with about 120,000 spectators for two days. In addition, "BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG" will be held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul on the 21st, the next day after releasing its fifth studio album "ARIRANG" at 1 p.m. on the 20th. The stage will be broadcast live to more than 190 countries/regions through Netflix.

BTS's world tour is expected to be an unprecedented astronomical scale in K-pop history. Industries and securities firms estimate that direct sales alone, including concert tickets, goods, licenses, album sales and streaming revenue for the full tour, will reach up to 2 trillion won. Add to this the direct and indirect economic inducement effects of overseas fans' visits to Korea, such as tourism revenue, aviation, and accommodation, and its impact will easily exceed trillions of won. In other words, an artist called BTS energizes the economy that exceeds the annual exports of most mid-sized companies.

After all, the gap of the past two years was not a time to test the limits of BTS, but a time to prove how absolute they were in the global pop culture scene. The seven members, who have returned from boy to young man and now a more solid artist in their 30s, will be back on stage. The throne, which BTS had briefly vacated, was still waiting for its master, and the great curtain of K-pop Chapter 2, which BTS will write anew, had just risen magnificently.

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*This content was translated by AI.