K-pop’s BTS comeback tour rallies South Korea’s global ‘soft power’ drive
Seoul – Shekinah Yawra had no other option but to spend the night at a South Korean jjimjilbang, a 24-hour bathhouse, after every hotel near central Seoul sold out in late March. But sleep was secondary for the 32-year-old Filipino who had made her way to Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square at 7am to secure a spot in a crowd that city officials estimated would grow to hundreds of thousands. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list All this was for a glimpse at the seven-member K-pop supergroup BTS, who returned to the stage on March 21 after almost four years away from the limelight for their staggered, mandatory military service. Though she failed to secure one of 22,000 free tickets for BTS’s first return concert in the square, Yawra was still ecstatic to stand on the sidelines and watch the concert live on a big screen set up for the occasion. “We all came just for this,” she told Al Jazeera, recounting how friends had flown in from the Philippines for a single night to catch the concert. Worldwide, more than 18.4 million viewers tuned in for the Netflix livestream of the concert. Kpop group BTS perform during ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in central Seoul, South Korea, March 21, 2026 [Kim Hong-ji/Pool/Reuters] With an estimated 30 million fans worldwide – who refer to themselves as the BTS ARMY – the K-pop group is the most visible symbol of “Hallyu”, or the “Korean Wave”, and the global surge of interest in South Korean popular culture and the financial revenues being generated as a result. In late March, BTS’s 10th studio album, Arirang, topped the charts in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom, the world’s three largest music markets. The group’s upcoming world tour is expected to generate more than $1.4bn in revenue across more than 80 shows in 23 countries. Advertisement Domestically, inbound tourist numbers for the first 18 days of March rose 32.7 percent from the previous month, according to Ministry of Justice data, as the return concert approached and hotel prices surged across central Seoul amid the demand for rooms. In the week leading up to the concert, sales of BTS merchandise – from BTS glow sticks to blankets – surged 430 percent at the Shinsegae Duty Free retail outlet in central Seoul, the company said. Over the concert weekend, revenues also rose 30 percent at the city’s Lotte Department Store and 48 percent at Shinsegae overall, compared with the same March weekend a year earlier, in 2025. Fans cheer before the BTS The Comeback Live Arirang concert as they wait near the concert venue, in central Seoul, South Korea, on March 21, 2026 [Kim Hong-ji/Reuters] As far back as 2022, the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI) – a government-sponsored think tank and research organisation – estimated that a single BTS concert in Seoul could generate up to 1.2 trillion won ($798m) in overall economic impact. KCTI researcher Yang Ji-hoon told Al Jazeera that a sample study of the crowd at the BTS comeback event at Gwanghwamun Square highlighted the uniqueness of fandom-driven tourism. More than half of those at the concert were foreign visitors and many required long-haul travel to attend. “In Europe and the United States, travel tends to be concentrated within its own regions,” Yang said. “So, for people to overcome such travel barriers and come to South Korea, it usually requires more than just ordinary motivation or typical spending – it’s not something that happens easily,” he said. K-pop’s transition to the global mainstream The scale of BTS’s return to the entertainment world reflects a broader state-backed strategy. When music promoter Hybe requested Seoul city support for the Gwanghwamun square comeback concert, authorities approved it on public-interest grounds, treating the event as a showcase of national cultural influence. Almost befitting an official event, more than 10,000 state personnel were deployed for security, logistics and crowd control. According to data retrieved by South Korean publication Sisain, through a public information disclosure request to the Seoul government, close to 130 million won ($87,400) of city funds were spent as part of logistics for the comeback concert. South Korean government support for BTS has a precedent. As members of the boyband approached South Korea’s mandatory military service age, policymakers debated special exemptions for members of BTS, which was estimated to have generated $4.65bn annually to the country’s economy. After BTS’s forthcoming concerts in Mexico City sold out in just 37 minutes, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung to “bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often”, noting nearly one million fans in Mexico had attempted to secure 150,000 tickets. Advertisement South Korea’s cultural influence is also extending beyond music. South Korea’s cosmetics exports surpassed $11bn last year, according to global accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), overtaking France in cosmetics shipments to the US, while South Korean food and agricultural exports reached a record $13.6bn, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. KCTI researcher Yang described the growing interest as a phase of “transition to the global mainstream”, where South Korean products are internationally recognised and content output is measured against worldwide benchmarks such as the Billboard charts and the Academy Awards. He also warned that structural reform is now essential to keep pace with the wave of interest in South Korea. “As the industries expand in scale, they must also evolve in its underlying systems, infrastructure, and workforce,” he said. “Rather than focusing solely on direct financial support, future governmental policies should move toward strengthening foundational conditions – such as improving labour environments, addressing unfair practices, building relevant infrastructure, and establishing more robust statistical and data systems,” he said. Politicians appear to be paying attention. During his election campaign last year, President Lee framed the next phase of cultural expansion as “Hallyu (Korean Wave) 4.0”, with promises to grow the sector into a 300 trillion won ($203bn) industry with 50 trillion won ($34bn) in exports.
Peru probes trafficking of citizens to fight for Russia in Ukraine
Peru’s public prosecutor says many of their citizens are victims of deception, lured by the promise of jobs but ended up in Ukraine. Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026 Peru has launched an investigation into an alleged human trafficking network that lured citizens with false promises of employment in Russia, only for them to end up fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, the public prosecutor’s office has said. Individuals were “recruited through deceptive job offers to work as security agents and other roles” in Russia, “with the promise of financial compensation”, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The investigation will focus on the alleged crimes of “human trafficking” and “aggravated human trafficking”, the office said. Percy Salinas, a lawyer representing families of people who ended up on the front lines in Ukraine, told the local TV channel N that 13 Peruvians have died in the war in Ukraine so far, according to the AFP news agency. Salinas said individuals were reportedly offered monthly salaries of between $2,000 and $3,000, and that an estimated 600 Peruvians have been lured since last October to fight for Russia. In a statement released on Thursday, Moscow’s embassy in Lima acknowledged that Peruvians had signed contracts to join the Russian armed forces. The Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had asked the Russian embassy to clarify the situation and obtain information about the location and wellbeing of citizens serving in the Russian military. The ministry noted that Peruvian citizens are required to seek permission from the Foreign Ministry before serving in a foreign military. The families of some of the victims who claimed they were recruited under false pretences to fight in Ukraine protested outside the ministry in Lima on Thursday, demanding their loved ones be repatriated. Advertisement Peru is the latest country to raise complaints against Russia over the deceptive recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in Ukraine. More than 1,780 citizens from 36 African countries are believed to be fighting alongside Russian forces, according to Ukrainian estimates from February. Russia has also previously acknowledged enlisting soldiers from North Korea, thousands of whom are estimated to have been killed or wounded in battle, as part of a military pact agreed between Moscow and Pyongyang. Relatives of Peruvians who claim they were recruited by Russia to the front lines of the war in Ukraine protest in Lima, Peru, on April 29, 2026 [Mikhail Huacan/EPA] Adblock test (Why?)
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Trump considering option to ‘blast the hell out of’ Iran
NewsFeed US President Donald Trump said he is “not happy” with the latest peace proposal from Iran and warned that the alternative to talks is to “blast the hell out of” the country. Published On 1 May 20261 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
US said to be withdrawing 5,000 troops from Germany over Iran war spat
President Donald Trump has feuded with European allies over their reluctance to step up support for war on Iran. Published On 1 May 20261 May 2026 The United States military has said that it will pull 5,000 troops out of Germany amid ongoing tensions with the key European ally concerning the US war against Iran, according to media reports. Reuters reported that the Pentagon made the decision on Friday, several days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Iran was humiliating the US during negotiations over the end of the war. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The president is rightly reacting to these counterproductive remarks,” the report cites an anonymous official as saying. The news service reported that the withdrawal is expected to take place over the next six to 12 months. The decision was also reported by CBS News, citing senior defence officials. President Donald Trump has lashed out at European allies for not doing more to assist the US-Israel war on Iran, and had stated on Wednesday that he was thinking of pulling troops out of European countries deemed insufficiently supportive. The US outlet Politico reported earlier this week that Trump’s threats to pull troops out of European countries caught the military by surprise, citing several anonymous defence officials and a congressional aide. Trump attacked his German counterpart in another social media post on Thursday, stating that Merz should spend more time trying to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and less time “interfering with those that are getting rid of the Iran Nuclear threat, thereby making the World, including Germany, a safer place”. While European countries have been hesitant to commit their own forces to the US war on Iran, leaders such as Merz were initially hesitant to offer criticism of the US attacks, widely considered illegal under international law. Advertisement But criticism has mounted as the war sends shocks across the global economy due to serious disruptions to regional energy supply. Earlier this week, Merz compared the war to previous military quagmires such as the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. “It is, at the moment, a pretty tangled situation,” he said. “And it is costing us a great deal of money. This conflict, this war against Iran, has a direct impact on our economic output.” Adblock test (Why?)
Iran war live: Trump says no ‘early’ end to war, unhappy with Tehran offer
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, White House officially tells Congress that hostilities with Iran have ‘terminated’ despite continued presence of US troops in Middle East. Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
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