BTS Smashes Records with 3.98 Million Sales of New Album 'Arirang' on First Day

BTS released their new studio album 'Arirang' on Friday, March 20, 2026, selling 3.98 million (copies) — first-day sales of BTS album 'Arirang' copies within 24 hours of its release, according to label BigHit Music, citing the local Hanteo Chart. The figure surpasses the total first-week sales of BTS's fourth studio album 'Map of the Soul: 7', according to BigHit. The 14-track record, whose title references South Korea's most iconic folk song, includes tracks 'Body to Body' and 'Into the Sun'. The album reached number one on iTunes in 88 countries and regions, including Mexico, Italy, and Sweden, according to BigHit as reported by South Korean news agency Yonhap. 'Arirang' is the group's first studio album since 'Proof' in 2022, marking the end of a nearly four-year hiatus.

BTS, whose full name translates as Bulletproof Boy Scouts, is a seven-member South Korean boy band formed in 2010, consisting of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. Before their hiatus, the group ranked among the most-listened-to artists on Spotify globally. The band entered a prolonged break in 2022 when its members began completing mandatory military service, which South Korean law requires of every healthy man up to the age of 30 and lasts at least 18 months. The seven members were reunited in June 2025, and the band announced its comeback in July 2025, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine.

260,000 fans gather as Seoul concert begins Saturday evening A free comeback concert was scheduled for Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 20:00 local time at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, marking the group's first live performance since 2022. Approximately 260,000 fans were expected to attend in person, with millions more in roughly 190 countries set to watch via a live broadcast on Netflix. Authorities deployed alongside 8,200 security personnel to manage the crowds, according to reporting by 20minutes and Ouest France. For safety reasons, the adjacent Gyeongbokgung Palace and its museum were closed for the day. The concert precedes an 82-date world tour beginning in April 2026, with two dates planned in France and two concerts in Munich, Germany, scheduled for July.

RM to perform with limited mobility after rehearsal injury Group leader RM, whose full name is Kim Nam-joon, sustained an ankle injury during a rehearsal on Thursday and was set to perform with a cast and reduced mobility, BigHit Music announced, as reported by Yonhap. The agency confirmed his participation on stage would be limited, though it did not specify which performances or segments he would miss. The injury represented the sole setback ahead of what had otherwise been described as a landmark return for the band. The remaining six members — Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook — were set to perform alongside RM for the first time since October 2022, according to web search results citing Reuters and the BBC. BigHit did not indicate whether RM's condition would affect his participation in the upcoming world tour.

Album title draws on Korea's unofficial national anthem The album title 'Arirang' alludes to a traditional Korean folk song widely regarded as a cultural symbol of national identity, often described as South Korea's unofficial national anthem. The song's themes of longing and separation carry particular resonance given the band's years-long enforced absence. The choice of title was noted across multiple outlets as a deliberate signal of the group's return to their Korean cultural roots. The album's first-day sales figure of 3.98 million copies, confirmed independently by BigHit Music and the Hanteo Chart, was reported by Reuters, AFP, and multiple European outlets on Saturday morning. The concert venue itself, Gwanghwamun Square, carries its own historical weight as a site associated with Korean resilience through dynastic collapse and colonial rule, as well as a traditional gathering point for public demonstrations.