Without Bts, Fans Have Fun in Seoul Plaza

Over 10,000 members of ARMY, K-pop boy band BTS's official fan club, gathered at Seoul Plaza, Sunday afternoon.

In the absence of the seven-member band, fans gathered under the banner of "Run Army In Action," scanned a QR code on the big screen and had fun answering quiz questions about BTS.

It is unprecedented for a fan club to come out of cyber space and hold a massive off-line festival.

The gathering was part of the band's global event called ARMYPEDIA, which started Feb. 21. Scanning a total of 2,080 QR codes scattered over seven cities around the world, fans could access the quiz related to the boy band, unlock and share video clips and photos of a certain day between its 2013 debut date and the event start date with other fans.

The event was designed to create a Wikipedia-like free online BTS-related encyclopedia, edited by fans from around the world.

Shin Ji-yoon, from Seoul, said she and other BTS fans were proud of themselves. "With so many ARMYs gathered for the event, I'm so proud of us. ARMY is famous for its strong bond between fans." Everything that BTS members said was shown on screen, fans shrieked and sang along to the boy band's songs. Her friend said, "I feel great since we ARMYs made this event a success, with or without BTS (present)."

Kim Sung-soo, a culture critic, said the ARMYPEDIA event appeals to many people, because it gives a free, open-to-all space where fans and non-fans can mingle together. "If a concert is for a limited number of ticket-holding fans, ARMYPEDIA allows people to join free of charge and find fun from direct involvement," he said.

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