Korea University Professor Estimates That BTS's "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" Finale In Seoul Made Nearly 1 Trillion Won In Economic Impact

Professor Pyun Joo Hyun is back with his BTS economics research.

The Korea University professor previously estimated the economic impact of BTS’s fan meetings in 2019. This time, he took a look at how the group’s world tour affected the economy.

The group’s tour spanned six months starting from May of this year and covered North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. According to Professor Pyun Joo Hyun’s research, the finale show in Seoul, which was held from October 26 to October 29, alone held a direct economic impact of 331 billion won (approximately $286 million) and an indirect impact of 592 billion won (approximately $511 million). The total direct and indirect impact immediately from the concert therefore is 923 billion won (approximately $796 million), very nearly reaching 1 trillion won.

For the impact in the aftermath of those concerts, the effect they are expected to have is 266 billion won (approximately $230 million), with an indirect impact of 328 billion won (approximately $283 million) expected over the next five years.

The professor’s team explained, “If you compare it to a three-year average of sales, which is about 150 billion won (approximately $129 million), the economic impact BTS created with just three days of concerts is the sum of the annual sales of six midsize companies.”

The team went on to say that the concert attracted some 187,000 foreign visitors to the country, of whom approximately 23,000 attended the concerts, and that an average of 3 in 10 visitors went to Seoul. This resulted in approximately 87,000 more people than average visiting Korea in 2019.

There were some unexpected economic effects of foreign capital in Korea, as well. Due to BTS’s cultural impact, Professor Pyun Joo Hyun said, many foreigners want to study or work in Korea. “This sort of high quality cultural content can attract foreign tourists in numbers comparable to the Olympics, and potentially open a new form of service export.”

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