Subtitled News: "Unpaid Drafting for a Commercial Concert?"... Backlash Over BTS Busan Concert Preparations

A total of 3,000 personnel will be deployed for safety management during the BTS concert in Busan, which begins today (June 12) and runs for two days.

A total of 3,000 safety personnel, including 1,400 staff from the event organizers, will be active at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium, where the concert is held, and Gwangalli Beach, where related events are taking place.

This figure also includes approximately 300 Busan city government officials and 1,100 police officers, firefighters, and public institution employees.

This stands in contrast to the BTS comeback performance held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul last March, which saw 15,000 safety personnel deployed, 10,000 of whom were from the public sector.

This difference is due to the fact that the Busan concert is being held indoors, with a maximum of 100,000 people expected to gather, and the Busan city government has reduced the number of personnel deployed.

Initially, the Busan city government planned to draft 900 city officials for safety management. However, following strong internal backlash, the plan was changed to only include volunteers, and working hours were reduced from a full day to a half-day.

Previously, when the Busan city government decided to deploy city officials for concert safety management, there was criticism, with people asking, "Is it right to draft public officials for a commercial concert?" and "Public officials are being forcibly drafted without pay."

In relation to this, a government official explained, "The backlash occurred because we were trying to ensure there were no gaps in safety management in the absence of a mayor following the local elections."

Five hours before the start of the BTS concert, the government held a meeting presided over by Kim Gwang-yong, Head of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, to inspect crowd safety measures.

At the meeting, Director General Kim urged that in the event of an emergency, officials must respond proactively, even to the point of appearing excessive.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Lee Soo-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.