The first recorded case of the coronavirus dates back to December 1, 2019, and since then, the virus has spread rapidly. As of today (February 28), there are over 83,000 cases of the virus globally, on every continent aside from Antarctica, so people in various sectors are doing their best to take necessary precautions. That includes those in the music world, and now, BTS announced they have canceled upcoming performances in South Korea.
Big Hit Entertainment, the group’s management company, shared a statement announcing that upcoming performances at Seoul’s Jamsil Olympic Stadium — originally scheduled for April 11, 12, 18, and 19 — will not be going on as planned. The statement notes, “While we hope that the situation will improve, we must take into consideration the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of guests as well as our artists and the dire impact a last-minute cancellation may have on guests from overseas, production companies and staff. […] It is unavoidable that the concert must be canceled without further delay.”
BTS are not the only musical act to cancel or postpone international shows in the wake of the coronavirus. Billboard notes that several performers have altered their live performance plans since late January. Green Day announced today they have postponed upcoming shows in Asia “due to the health + travel concerns with coronavirus.” Other artists who have canceled or postponed shows over the past month include Khalid, Mabel, Stormzy, and X Ambassadors.
Read Big Hit’s full statement below.
“Hello. This is Big Hit Entertainment
We regret to announce that the BTS MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR – SEOUL Concert, originally scheduled to be held on April 11 (Sat), 12 (Sun), 18 (Sat) and 19 (Sun) at OLYMPIC STADIUM, has been canceled.
Plans for “MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR – SEOUL” included the involvement of a number of global production companies and a large group of expert international crew, with over 200,000 concertgoers expected to attend.
However, the current global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has made it impossible at this time to predict the scale of the outbreak during the dates of the concert in April, alongside increasing uncertainty about the cross-border movement of concert staff and equipment.
While we hope that the situation will improve, we must take into consideration the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of guests as well as our artists and the dire impact a last-minute cancellation may have on guests from overseas, production companies and staff. We have thus determined that with approximately one month left before the Seoul concert is set to begin, it is unavoidable that the concert must be canceled without further delay.
Please understand that this decision was made after extensive and careful consideration in order to cooperate with the government’s measures on restricting public events as well as municipal advisories on the use of cultural and sports facilities.
Tickets already reserved will be refunded in full through INTERPARK, the official ticket agent. Please refer to the “Refund Notice” below as well as the INTERPARK ticket Webpage (reservation page), or contact the INTERPARK ticket customer service center (1544-1555) for more information.
We would like to sincerely apologize for issuing this notice of cancellation to all of our fans who had been eagerly looking forward to the BTS MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR – SEOUL Concert, and we ask for your understanding.
Thank you.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
