A BTS concert planned to be held in the South Korean port city of Busan in October has announced a venue change after safety concerns over the original venue were raised.
Part of Busan's World Expo 2030 bid, the Oct 15 "BTS Yet to Come in Busan" free concert was set to be held at a temporary venue on the site of a former glass factory near Ilgwang Beach and supposedly accommodate 100,000 concertgoers.
However, despite the interest in the concert, many people raised concerns over the plans, concerned over the potential for health and safety emergencies.
Fans pointed out there was little nearby accommodation, public transport was lacking and the venue was ill-equipped for an event of that size, such as having no restroom facilities or restaurants.
Reports stated that fans would also not be allowed to bring food into the venue, meaning that those getting there at opening time would not be able to eat until the concert finished 12 hours later.
A 50,000-person standing room area was also reportedly going to be unregulated, raising fears that people may fall and get trampled on when trying to get better views of the concert.
On Sept 2, BTS' management company, Hybe, announced that the show would move to the Busan Asiad Main Stadium, which has over 53,000 seats, and is expected to be able to accommodate 100,000 seated and standing fans.
The new venue already has well-developed access points and facilities.
The BTS Yet to Come in Busan concert is being hosted by the city government of Busan in the hope of boosting public awareness of the city, South Korea's second-largest, and helping it in its bid to host the World Expo in eight years.
The 100,000-person concert would be BTS's largest-ever single-day concert in South Korea.
The Busan government is also reportedly attempting to crack down on price gouging related to accommodation for the event, with many nearby hotels and other lodgings already raising prices significantly for the event.
Recent years have seen lacking event infrastructure result in injuries and even deaths at South Korean concerts and music festivals, making many concertgoers increasingly aware of the dangers of poor coordination and venue safety.
In 2014, 16 people were killed at a concert in the city of Seongnam while watching girl group 4Minute, after a ventilation grate they were standing on collapsed.
