BTS Reschedule ‘Map Of The Soul Tour’ Due to the COVID-19 Crisis

South Korean group BTS have announced that they will be rescheduling their world tour ‘Map Of The Soul.’ Originally set to begin in April with five shows in their home city Seoul, the tour initially saw the complete cancellation of the Seoul dates and postponement of its North American segment. However with the COVID-19 crisis spreading across the globe with no indication as to when the situation will improve, the group have been forced to reschedule the tour completely.

The group’s label Big Hit Entertainment announced the decision with a formal statement, explaining that the safety of the artists, staff, crew, and fans are of utmost priority: “While there are certain countries, regions, and cities where conditions have improved, including Korea, it is difficult to make the decision to begin the tour based on these recent developments. Due to the nature of BTS concerts involving travel by thousands of international fans no matter where the performances are held, it is also difficult to resume the tour with the current strict restrictions on cross-border movement still in place. Moreover, it is impossible at this time to predict when the first performance marking the start of the tour will be able to begin.”

The company further stated that they will work on announcing new dates if they see the global situation around the coronavirus improve. BTS were originally scheduled to begin the North American leg of the tour in late April, with more dates in Europe and Japan later on in the year. The much-anticipated world tour was set around the release of the group’s latest studio album Map of the Soul: 7 which dropped in February.

As most of the world remains in quarantine and no live shows have been possible, BTS joined the massive fray of artists providing entertainment to fans free of cost with Bang Bang Con, a weekend-long concert marathon and multiple livestream sessions from the members on V Live and YouTube.