When BTS enlisted in the army, there were not only ARMYs but also a lot of people who were “concerned” about this. Especially the authorities or more specifically the Busan city government.

Recently, a new statement from the city mayor about BTS’s enlistment affecting Busan Expo 2030 has angered netizens. Many people think that BTS has given too much while politicians are too greedy to want more:

One of the issues that attracted attention when BTS announced their enlistment plans was how BTS’s enlistment would affect their promotional strategy to attract bids for World Busan Expo 2030. were appointed as ambassadors for Busan EXPO 2030 in July, and they conducted many shows including BTS Concert in Busan last weekend to promote this project.

In an interview with Busan Ilbo newspaper, Mr. Park Hyung Jun, the mayor of Busan city, felt the great influence of BTS with the recent mega concert. But besides that, the mayor also expressed his regret when BTS had to enlist, “It’s difficult to argue further about the BTS members’ decision to directly perform military service. We expected BTS to play an active role as ambassadors for the entire 2030 World Expo, but unfortunately…We respect BTS’s decision to enlist, but…”

In fact, BTS – the promotional ambassador for World Busan Expo 2030 has been very active. At the appointment of a promotional ambassador for BTS in July, the live video on YouTube attracted 200,000 simultaneous views worldwide. BTS’ concert has become a topic of great interest, and more than 62,000 spectators from many countries flocked to three performance venues (1 live concert and 2 live play venues), including the Busan Asiad Stadium.

Not only that, the live broadcast of the concert also attracted global interest, being streamed live in 229 countries. The number of livestream views through the Weverse platform has reached 49.07 million. Busan city made a self-assessment about BTS’s performance, “We were able to improve the Busan city brand and convey the attractive message for Busan’s World Expo 2030 to the whole world.”

However, it is currently difficult to predict whether BTS will be able to continue carrying out activities as promotional ambassadors for World Busan Expo 2030 after deciding to enlist. But the main issue is that BTS has done a great job of promoting their role right from the first days while enlistment is still a matter that BTS needs to complete. The request of the Government and the Busan government for BTS seems to be too ambitious.

On the other hand, they even expect BTS to both join the military service and continue to participate in official activities such as presenting at the General Assembly of International Exhibition Organization (PT) and negotiating abroad. But surely now they are in a situation of force majeure and politicians need to change their promotion strategies.

But it seems that politicians still want to take advantage of BTS’s full potential when the Ministry of Defense said, “If BTS wishes, we will create conditions for them to participate in a ‘public benefit event or national event’ even when they’re serving in the military.”

Mayor Park also added, “Currently, it is difficult to ask for more promotional activities of BTS, but they are still promotional ambassadors at World Busan Expo 2030 and specific activities will be discussed and decided later”.