According to Sports Kyunghyang, before BTS's comeback performance in Gwanghwamun Square (Korea), many large-scale traffic control measures and temporary suspension of operations of some facilities in central Seoul have been announced.
Amidst this context, Lisa (Blackpink)'s past story is suddenly mentioned again.
On March 21, BTS is expected to hold a performance marking their return with a full 7-member group lineup at Gwanghwamun Square. Before the event, the government, Seoul city government, police, and businesses and nearby stores have implemented many preparation measures.
On the morning of March 9, the Seoul government held a coordination inspection meeting on safety management for BTS's comeback event, chaired by Seoul Mayor Oh Se Hoon, with the participation of self-governing districts, police, firefighters and related agencies to review safety response work.
On the day of the event, 99 fire trucks and 765 personnel will be mobilized to ensure safety. Gwanghwamun Station, City Hall Station (Seoul) and Gyeongbokgung Station will allow trains to pass without stopping for a period of time, and some entrances and exits will also be closed.
In addition, buses running through Sejong-daero and Sajik-ro routes will temporarily change routes, and the Seoul Bike Ttareungi public bicycle service will also temporarily stop renting out.
After these measures were announced, many controversial opinions appeared online such as: "This is not a national event, so who will bear the costs?", "Why does the Seoul government have to use tax money to support?", "Why not rent a performance venue instead of organizing it in the square?"...
In that context, Lisa (Blackpink)'s case was mentioned again. On May 3, 2024, Lisa filmed the MV for her solo song "Rockstar" at Yaowarat Road - the main street of Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand.
The filming process took place from 2 am to 5 am, and stores in the area temporarily stopped doing business to serve the MV filming.
According to revelations, Lisa paid 20,000 baht (nearly 17 million VND) for each store owner affected by filming. In addition, road users with limited movement also received 1,000 baht (about 800,000 VND) as compensation for inconvenience.
Lisa's story is spreading again on Korean online communities. Many netizens compared Lisa's situation with BTS and expressed agreement with the Blackpink member's handling.
Korean audiences commented: "Lisa is truly world-class"; "This is superstar"; "The way she cares about people affected by filming is very impressive"; "Of course, it's completely different from Arirang"...
Meanwhile, BTS's comeback performance at Gwanghwamun Square named "BTS Comeback Live: ARIRANG" is scheduled to take place at 8:00 PM on March 21st, and will be broadcast live globally via Netflix, attracting the attention of international fans.
Before the event, many foreign fans planned to come to Korea, causing the hotel, retail and tourism industries to expect an economic effect called "BTSnomics" (BTS + economy).
However, due to the event accompanying large-scale traffic control and mobilizing a lot of public labor, debates continue to emerge online about whether it is appropriate to use public resources for a private performance or not.
