1 of 4 | BTS will walk from Gyeongbokgung Palace along the King’s Road to Gwanghwamun and take the comeback stage. File Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI | License Photo
Group BTS will walk from Gyeongbokgung Palace along the King’s Road to Gwanghwamun and take the comeback stage that will receive global attention. Blackpink will introduce Korea’s representative cultural heritage with their voices and paint the National Museum of Korea in pink.
Global K-pop stars like BTS and Blackpink have stepped forward as ambassadors to spread our traditional cultural heritage around the world.
According to the music industry on the 12th, to commemorate the release of their new mini-album Deadline, Blackpink will be presenting a large-scale collaborative project with the National Museum of Korea (hereafter referred to as the National Museum of Korea) from the 26th to the 8th of next month.
Blackpink is the first K-pop artist to officially collaborate on a large-scale project with Kookmin Bank. This marks a significant expansion of their global influence, spanning music, fashion, and advertising, into our traditional cultural heritage.
Blackpink members will participate in audio docent commentary on eight representative artifacts from the National Museum of Korea. Visitors will hear explanations of Korea’s representative museum artifacts in the voices of K-pop idol stars.
The exterior of the Kookjung Park building will be painted in the pink color that symbolizes Blackpink to commemorate the collaboration.
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It has been reported that a listening session will be held in front of the Gwanggaeto Stele located on the History Road in the main lobby of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, starting on the 26th, a day before the release of the new mini-album on the 27th, where people can listen to the new album in advance.
It is expected that many fans will flock to the museum to listen to Blackpink’s new album, which has been released for the first time in 3 years and 5 months and is receiving worldwide attention.
BTS, who will make a comeback next month with their fifth full-length album ‘Arirang’, chose Gwanghwamun Square, which can be called the ‘heart of Korea’, as the venue for their large-scale comeback concert on March 21st.
BTS is planning to perform on a stage set up at the northern starting point of Gwanghwamun Square, starting from Gyeongbokgung Palace, passing through Gwanghwamun and Wolde. However, it has been reported that discussions are underway as to whether the opening performance, which will continue from Gyeongbokgung Palace to Gwanghwamun, Wolde, and then the stage, will be performed live on-site or recorded in advance.
Big Hit Music, the agency, explained the purpose, saying, “Since the word ‘Arirang’ has a symbolic meaning, we wanted to prepare the first stage in a space that represents Korea.”
BTS previously performed “Idol” in front of Geunjeongjeon Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace in 2020, and “Microcosm” at Gyeonghoeru Pavilion.
Although the comeback concert is still over a month away, ARMY (fandom name) around the world are already showing great interest in Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun through social media.
One fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Let’s remember BTS’ ‘Idol’ performance at Gyeongbokgung Palace wearing costumes inspired by black hanbok.”
Another overseas fan posted a photo taken in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace with the caption, “I remember taking photos at Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Square. This is where BTS is said to be performing on March 21st.”
As this is the comeback concert of BTS, the group leading the K-pop wave, police predict that up to 260,000 people will flock to the venue, Gwanghwamun Square, and the nearby city center.
The performance will also be live streamed to over 190 countries worldwide via the online video service (OTT) Netflix. Viewers around the world will be able to experience the beauty of Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Gate in real time, combined with BTS’s performance.
Culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon said, “With the return of stars like BTS and Blackpink, the commercial effect will be great, but the effect of them spreading our country’s traditional culture will also be great.” He added, “If our cultural heritage is introduced as promotional material, it may be rejected, but if your favorite star shows it naturally, the effect and ripple effect will be tremendous. We live in an era where an artist’s every move becomes K-culture.”
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