BTS’ Jungkook has admitted singing without fans chanting and singing made it “difficult to perform”.
The K-Pop septet returned to the stage in their home city of Seoul, South Korea on Thursday (10.03.22), for the first of a series of ‘BTS Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul’ performances, but the 24-year-old singer says the chanting and yelling ban imposed because of COVID-19 made it hard to watch.
In a translated Instagram video, he said: “Finally, after two years, although it felt like 23 years, I got to perform in Korea. Like, wow, finally.
“Overall, I felt extremely happy today. Just extremely happy. And, to be honest, I felt at home.”
He added: “The thing is, especially in Korea, I usually get to hear the fans chant and sing with me.
“I didn’t get to hear that today though. And that made it really difficult for me today, to perform.”
He continued: “I mean, it was still incredible. But I found it difficult. [it was] just kind of hard on me.
“It was like, I’m looking at ARMYs right in front of my eyes but I wasn’t hearing anything [from the audience] and they can’t get up and dance or anything. They had to stay seated. Yeah, it was just difficult to watch.”
Jungkook – who is joined by V, J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, RM and Suga in the boy band – admitted he was “concerned” about whether their ARMY – the name of their fanbase – were enjoying the show throughout the set.
He concluded: “I kept worrying, like, ‘Are they having fun? Are they enjoying the show?’ All throughout the show and even after, I was pretty concerned.
‘What we dealt with today? That entire situation was new for us too.
“I miss you all already. I miss the moments on stage. I miss your voices that I would hear from the audience in the past.”
The group returned to the Olympic Stadium for their first performance in their homeland since 2019.
BTS perform again on March 12 and 13, with the first show to be shown in cinemas across the globe.