BTS has canceled their Map of the Soul tour dates in Seoul following growing fears over the coronavirus, which has heavily affected South Korea. All ticket holders will be issued refunds for their purchases.
The band's new tour was slated to kick off in the South Korean capital, with gigs on April 11, 12, 18 and 19. But all Seoul dates have been canceled due to the "unpredictable" status of the virus threat, which has affected around 2,337 people in South Korea, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The news was announced by Big Hit Entertainment (the group's management company) on BTS Weverse, an official BTS fan community forum launched by the band on the app Weverse, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reports.
"BTS's 'Map of the Soul Tour - Seoul', originally scheduled to take place on April 11-12 and April 18-19 at Olympic Stadium, has been cancelled. Due to the worldwide spread of the Coronavirus (COVID19), it is currently unpredictable how far the virus will have spread by April; furthermore, securing concert staff, equipment, and even mobility is uncertain," Big Hit announced, Allkpop reports.
"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 as last-minute cancellations may have on guests from overseas, production companies and staff," the company stated.
Big Hit explained it had "inevitably come to the conclusion to announce the cancellation of the shows approximately a month in advance," considering the "safety and welfare" of not only BTS and the audience but also "the potential damages which could be caused by the abrupt cancellation of the event closer to the date such as overseas travel, business expenses, etc," the company stated.
The K-pop sensation, who this week released the music video for their new single "On," were expecting to host nearly 200,000 audience members for the concert, working with a number of international production companies and tour crew members, Yonhap reports.
It has yet to be determined whether new concert dates for Seoul will be announced at a later time.
The North American leg of the new BTS tour begins in California on April 25. The state is currently monitoring at least 8,400 people after a patient was diagnosed this week, which may be the first case of person-to-person transmission where the individual had no exposure to the virus and the origin of the infection is unknown.
More than half of all the coronavirus cases in the U.S. are in California, with 33 patients having tested positive in the state so far. It is unknown whether Big Hit Entertainment will also adjust or cancel any of the North American dates for the BTS tour due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Newsweek has contacted Big Hit Entertainment for a comment on the latest situation.
Earlier this week, BTS held a press conference for their latest album Map of the Soul: 7, which was broadcast live from Seoul via YouTube in the absence of mass media and fans amid coronavirus fears.
"We have decided to fully cooperate with the government's policy to refrain from holding events with a massive number of participants in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus," Big Hit Entertainment confirmed in a press release.
The new BTS album Map of the Soul: 7 was released on February 21.
