Even though it is nearly two months until BTS returns with their fifth studio album and kicks off their global world tour, the entire world has already begun buzzing around this main theme. Travel searches to Seoul from abroad surged by 155% compared to the previous week within the 48 hours immediately following the tour announcement. In particular, travel searches to Busan—where BTS will hold a debut anniversary concert in June—have skyrocketed by 2,375%. Similarly, accommodation searches in Paris have increased by 590%, even though the concert there is not scheduled until July.
Meanwhile, as of the 25th, BTS has sold out a total of 44 stadium shows in numerous cities across the globe, with some venues selling out in just minutes after tickets went on sale. Concurrently, only one week after pre-orders opened for the album ARIRANG, BTS set a new K-pop milestone by recording 4.06 million pre-ordered copies. The Spotify platform also rapidly reached 1 million pre-saves in just two days.
Surprisingly, amidst news of this magnitude, an offbeat report related to the group surfaced on the 27th in a startling way: A man in his 60s stole a BTS photobook displayed in a hotel lobby and subsequently headed to a convenience store to cause a disturbance until he was taken into ρσℓι¢є custody.
In an exclusive report, Channel A detailed that the man entered the convenience store, took a lighter from the shelf, and nonchalantly lit a cigarette. When the female store owner followed him to protest, he used a mobile phone to strike her head and slapped her in the face with his hand. "I told him he couldn't smoke and asked him to leave. But instead of going out, he stopped at the door and rushed in to нιт me," the convenience store owner recalled.
Further astonishing is the fact that just a few days prior, this same man had caused trouble at this very convenience store through acts such as forcibly removing the owner's glαѕѕes and throwing trash in her face.
When ρσℓι¢є arrived and arrested the suspect, they discovered that approximately one hour earlier, he had been reported for an attempted theft at a nearby hotel. The item he intended to take was a photobook of the group BTS, which the hotel had placed in the lobby for guests to browse.
It was reported that the man did not only attempt theft but also engaged in violent behavior similar to the situation at the convenience store. The 60-year-old man used his fists and a mobile phone to strike a hotel staff member's face when they stepped in to prevent him from stealing it.
Meanwhile, investigations revealed that at the time of his arrest, the man was in a state of intoxication. Police have booked the man on charges of special αѕѕault and attempted theft, and are currently investigating the cause of his frequent abnormal behavior lately.
