Ever since BTS’s Jin (진) enlisted in the Korean mandatory military service back in 2022, ARMYs have been (im)patiently waiting for his return. Time has certainly flown by quickly as the idol will soon be discharged later this month on 12th June!
To celebrate this momentous occasion, BIGHIT made an announcement last weekend that there will be a special event known as the “BTS FESTA” the following day in Seoul where the singer will be giving out free hugs to fans! At first, many were excited about the upcoming event but were soon disappointed by the criteria in order to participate. Here’s what happened:
According to the initial announcement, the “BTS FESTA” event will consist of two parts: a meet-and-greet session and special performances requested by fans. The former will involve a three-hour-long ‘hug event’ in which 1000 lucky participating fans can engage in light hugs with the oldest member of the popular K-pop group. Those who may not be comfortable with a hug could opt for a handshake instead.
It was reported that the “Epiphany” singer personally requested this session. From our understanding, to participate in the session, fans would need to purchase BTS albums or members’ solo albums that were released after the group’s last project “Proof” in 2022 to increase their chances of being selected. The entry criteria were then met with heavy backlash among mostly Korean ARMYs as many of them had already purchased or won these albums prior to Jin’s enlistment.
Fans also pointed out that the 31-year-old’s “The Astronaut” album was his only album before he enlisted, thus making the entry criteria more restrictive. Due to this, the agency issued an apology earlier this week saying, “We apologise for the previous unclear announcement and the lack of careful consideration in setting the entry criteria. We will revise them to include both those who purchased albums for the offline event through the Weverse Shop after the announcement and those with prior purchase history from the Weverse Shop.”
At the time of writing, BIGHIT has yet to update the entry criteria for the “BTS FESTA with Jin” event but so far, the date of the special occasion (Thursday, 13th June) remains unchanged. Hopefully, the company will figure something out soon so that everyone will be satisfied.
Sources: Weverse, KoreaTimes
